If NATO Didn't Exist We'd Have To Invent It

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Wall Street Journal
April 3, 2009
Reflections on one international institution that's still relevant.
By Mirek Topolanek
I think often about the lessons of history. Against the backdrop of our global economic crisis, I refer to the ill-fated experience of protectionism in the 1930s. When discussing the ratification of the European Union's (EU) Lisbon Treaty, I remind others of the fact that independence, regained only about two decades ago by the Czech Republic, remains a sensitive issue for our country. And when defending priorities such as the energy security of the EU and the strategic importance of relations with our eastern neighbors, I mention recent crises over security in Georgia and gas in Ukraine.
But the past also teaches positive lessons. One of them is success of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It was undoubtedly this alliance that stabilized the countries of Western Europe -- which had for centuries been beset by power struggles -- and created a block capable of resisting potential threats from the eastern part of the bipolar world.
NATO's victory over the Warsaw Pact was not one of arms, but of democratic principles that were alien to the communist pact. The Czech Republic -- then Czechoslovakia -- had a first-hand experience of this when the Prague Spring, an attempt to humanize socialism, died under the tanks of the Warsaw Pact armies. However, while the end of the Cold War meant the end of the Pact, the North Atlantic Alliance has stayed relevant.
So far, NATO has been extended to include 28 members; one-third are former enemies from the Warsaw Pact. Is there any better example of NATO's openness and love of freedom? As the only functioning international military alliance, NATO has also been active in operations outside its member states. Is there a better example of its legitimacy? At present, NATO operations comprise not only military activities, but also infrastructure restoration and the training of local security forces. Is there a better example of respect for third-party countries? I don't think so.
I have personally experienced what the promises "voluntary membership," "fraternal help," and a "temporary stay" of the Warsaw Pact troops meant: forced dictatorship, violent occupation, and unlimited intimidation. From my perspective, the importance of U.S. input in NATO does not lie so much in the force of the first nuclear superpower, but rather in the ethos of supranational responsibility for democracy with which the U.S. soldiers disembarked in Normandy, or dropped food on West Berlin for its inhabitants.
When thinking about the further development of NATO, I try to imagine a world without it. I imagine countries threatened with terrorism (and which country would dare say that it is not?) left alone to defend themselves. I imagine invaded countries scrambling to find allies too late. I imagine Afghanistan or another unstable country becoming the center of militant organizations and drug cartels. I imagine countries in strategic locations becoming toys in the hands of powerful neighbors.
As President Barack Obama rightly said in his recent speech unveiling a new strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, "the very idea that free nations can come together on behalf of our common security . . . was the founding cause of NATO six decades ago, and that must be our common purpose today." If such a world without NATO indeed existed, I would be the first to call, on the basis of historical experience encompassing the Munich Treaty and the end of democratic Czechoslovakia, for the creation of an alliance that would protect freedom, equality and respect for human dignity and life.
Fortunately, such an alliance exists and the Czech Republic is a member. As such, we are responsible for its values, including in our domestic politics. This is why our government had to stand firmly against challenges at home during the discussion on the prolongation of the mandate of our troops in Afghanistan, and why we defend the development of the antimissile defense system.
Our NATO membership also means responsibility for its future. That's why we all need to remind ourselves of history.
Mr. Topolánek is prime minister of the Czech Republic.
 
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