Analysis & Opinions - Harvard International Review

Testing the NATO Alliance: Afghanistan and the Future of Cooperation

| Summer 2009

At the heart of the alliance is article five of the North Atlantic Treaty: if one NATO member is attacked, all will respond. Now, as US President Obama reminded us in Strasbourg, NATO "remains the strongest alliance that the world has ever known." NATO's summit, however, revealed the weakness of that alliance. Contrary to the spirit of the NATO treaty, some countries are doing much more in Afghanistan than others. The discrepancy is so great that it is almost misleading to call it a NATO mission. Countries cannot share the benefits of collective security without sharing its burdens too. Troops are needed to support the upcoming Afghan elections, to train Afghan soldiers, and to rebuild the country. But all of this depends on the security situation; the most urgent need is for troops to fight the Taliban.

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For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Ibrahim, Azeem.“Testing the NATO Alliance: Afghanistan and the Future of Cooperation.” Harvard International Review, Summer 2009.

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