Our Affiliates
 
 
RFE/RL Radio
 
 
 

RFE/RL Iran Coverage Cited Around the World 

RFE/RL's coverage of the post-election crisis in Iran has been cited by a variety of media outlets around the world. More
 
 
More Articles
 
 
 
 
 

Transmission

Taking Apart Article V

December 02, 2008
Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, writing in "The Washington Times," advises the United States not to rush Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. 

NATO foreign ministers are gathering for a two-day summit in Brussels today, and, as ever, the alliance is divided on whether to let Georgia and Ukraine into the club.

O'Hanlon makes an interesting point about Article V:

"Here's the problem with Article V. It has long been presumed to constitute an implicit threat to use force nearly automatically in the event allies are threatened -- and there is a very real danger that President Saakashvili of Georgia would interpret it that way, feeling even more unbound to challenge Russia once inside the alliance.

But in fact, Article V does not require a military response, and wily characters like Mr. Putin and Mr. Medvedev would likely figure that out. Even if they did not want to challenge us blatantly by overthrowing Mr. Saakashvili in the future, they could quite likely pick future fights with him over borders, or the treatment of minorities, or other such issues -- calculating that American and other alliance leaders would not risk nuclear war over small parts of central Eurasia that few Americans had ever heard of. And they would probably be right."

-- Luke Allnutt
 
 
Would you like to post to this forum?
Name *
Location
E-mail
Comment *
Disclaimer
Reader comments in no way reflect the views or opinions of RFE/RL correspondents, contributors, or staff.
Before you post a comment, please read the forum rules
 
Are you human? Please enter the numbers below:
 
  Send  
 
 
 
Comments 0 (of 0)
There are no comments in this forum. Be first and add one
Comments 0 (of 0)
TEXT SIZE
About This Blog
Written by RFE/RL editors and correspondents, Transmission serves up news, comment, and the odd silly dictator story. While our primary concern is with foreign policy, Transmission is also a place for the ideas -- some serious, some irreverent -- that bubble up from our bureaus. The name recognizes RFE/RL's role as a surrogate broadcaster to places without free media. You can write us at transmission@rferl.org
 
 
 
 
Follow Us On Twitter

Transmission is now on Twitter. Meet like-minds and join the conversation at @TransmissionRFE:
~ You can also find our instant news feed at @RFE_RLNEWS.
 

 
 
 
 
 

Products and services: