NATO after Iraq: Out of Sector, or Out of Business?
Abstract
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has survived many Cold War crises over the past forty-one years, only to be faced with the most crucial test to Alliance solidarity: The dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the effect of the War in the Gulf. This paper examines the future of NATO in light of these two cataclysmic events. It is the author's thesis that unless NATO accepts the out-of-area mission for its military forces, it will become a hollow shell and collapse upon itself. The method of analysis is simple and direct: First, demonstrate that there is historical precedent for NATO military forces being employed out-of-sector; second, review the basic NATO charter to ensure that it does not expressly prohibit NATO forces operating out of the Central Region; third, illustrate that Germany's Basic Law does not prohibit their military forces from being deployed out of the Central Region; and finally, persuade the reader that no European only organization (WEU, EC, or CSCE) could handle this out-of-area mission.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 05, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA234383
Entities
People
- Bruce K. Scott
Organizations
- United States Army War College