[…] NATO’s expansion now requires the United States to defend all the new member states from both conventional and nuclear threats — a tall order given their proximity to Russia and a strategically unnecessary project since they can contribute nothing to American national security.
From an organization that could succeed simply by deterring a major military threat, NATO turned into an expansive project to make all of Western Eurasia safe, liberal and democratic — goals that are much more complicated.[…]
Supporters of proposed interventions know that the American public likes the idea of having allies. NATO support helps sell an operation to voters. Europeans can applaud our action, enable our deployment to the theater and contribute small military forces to provide the patina of cost and risk sharing. The Allies did contribute troops — and suffered significant casualties — in the extended Afghan counterinsurgency, but the wars NATO enables are the Americans’ to win or lose. Läs artikel