Tuesday, March 13, 2018

NATO's Purpose in the 21st Century

            NATO was initially created at the very beginning of the Cold War as an international military body that would act to prevent the spread of the threatening ideology that was communism. Since that threat was defeated over 20 years ago, people have begun to question the purpose of NATO today.
            Even though the world has changed and NATO’s initial target, communism, is no longer a major threat to the international world order that does not mean that their purpose as an international security body needs to change as there are still many threats to the world order. They can remain a global force but need to shift their focus away from communism to other issues plaguing the world.
            The first of these issues still aligns with their old mission. They must keep Russia in check. With Vladimir Putin at the helm of this major world power, Russia poses a bigger threat to the world than people realize. They have a large nuclear arsenal and are still trying to push their own agenda and spread throughout the region as they have recently demonstrated with the invasion into Ukraine. The threat that they pose to the international order is way too big for any one country to handle on their own. If the nations of NATO come together, they will effectively be able to minimize and crush this threat. NATO does not only have to specifically target Russia though, they can also keep other threatening countries in check. These nations can include, but are not limited to, Iraq, North Korea, and China. These three nations also pose great dangers to the way that the world exists today.
            Not all the threats which face the world today are coming from nations though. In the 21st century one of the more dangerous and common threats facing the world is not a political ideology but an extreme religious one. Although the radical faction of Islam is very small, it has become one of the biggest dangers to everyday society. 9/11 is the perfect example of the threat that these groups can cause. With only a handful of men, they could kill almost 3,000 Americans and forever change American society. Since then, many more attacks have been conducted by these groups in Western World. This is another issue that the US cannot handle on their own. By changing NATO into a global coalition against terror, the Western world would have a united front against one of the bigger threats facing the world.
            Lastly, NATO serves one overarching purpose that is viewed by many, including myself, to serve a greater purpose than all its specific purposes. It links the United States to many countries throughout Europe and creates an unofficial western coalition. Even though the current administration is pushing for a foreign policy which is eerily similar to isolationism, in reality it is impossible. The globalized world that exists today requires the United States to be one of the more prevalent actors in the world. By being apart of NATO the United States is linked to their closest allies with no escape. It keeps the United States relevant in a region of the world where they not only have influence but have like-minded ideas of how the world should run. A coalition of nations on the same front has the power to change the world for the better.

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