“NATO should consider recruiting some new members from beyond its traditional borders,” retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis wrote in a Bloomberg opinion piece on Monday.
Stavridis was head of the military alliance from 2009 to 2013. Previously, from 2006 to 2009, he was commander of the United States Southern Command, where he oversaw military operations in Latin America.
Is the US creating an “Asian-style NATO”? North Korea thinks so
Is the US creating an “Asian-style NATO”? North Korea thinks so
It’s probably too early to think about a worldwide NATO… but perhaps there’s a middle way
That said, Stavridis did acknowledge that there are difficulties in “expanding NATO geographically to incorporate a gaggle of Asian democracies.”
In addition to coping with “cultural, linguistic and geographic differences,” Stavridis noted that a bigger membership would make it “even tougher to acquire broad consensus on any mission.”
“I would say that the challenges and benefits seem roughly balanced, but given the practical and political obstacles, it is probably too early to consider a global NATO,” Stavridis wrote.
“But perhaps there is a middle path that could involve more formalized relations between the alliance and Asian democracies,” he added, suggesting arrangements resembling “clear security guarantees” and “joint procurement of advanced weapons systems.”
“In recent years, NATO has moved increasingly closer to the Asia-Pacific region and used the non-existent ‘China threat’ as an excuse to speed up bloc confrontation that poses a threat to regional security,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said about NATO at a press conference in January.
NATO officials didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
