Is NATO still relevant?
Divisions threaten to overshadow 70th birthday celebrations of world’s largest military alliance.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is facing a crisis.
The United States, Canada and 10 European nations formed NATO at the end of the second world war to confront what they saw as the threat from the Soviet Union.
Now, with 29 members, the biggest threats to the alliance appear to be internal.
The US, Turkey and France have recently raised concerns over military spending and NATO’s role, with French President Emmanuel Macron recently calling the organisation “brain dead”.
As representatives from the member states meet in London to mark the bloc’s 70th anniversary, the role of the organisation in a rapidly-changing world is in doubt.
What will happen if member states cannot settle their differences?
Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra
Guests:
Muhittin Ataman – Director of foreign policy studies at SETA, a political think-tank in Turkey
Marko Mihkelson – Head of the Estonian delegation to the NATO parliamentary assembly
Kristine Berzina – Senior fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States