By Jason Miks
All eyes will be on Chicago this weekend, as the city hosts NATO’s annual summit – a meeting that will be attended by key world leaders including Barack Obama, David Cameron, Angela Merkel and Hamid Karzai.
Although Afghanistan isn’t a NATO member, the organization’s interests there are obvious, and the country is set to top the agenda as the leaders of dozens of nations converge on Chicago, which is the first city in the United States outside Washington to host the summit.
The past year has seen the notable success of Muammar Gaddafi being removed from power, with NATO and its member countries managing to facilitate his overthrow without the loss of life of a single one of their serviceman (although questions have been raised this past week by Human Rights Watch about the deaths of civilians).
But a number of events the past several months have highlighted the big question NATO faces in the coming years – namely, can it stay relevant? With the United States indicating it’s shifting its focus more towards Asia, with China’s rise (and associated territorial spats in the South China Sea), North Korean belligerence and the continued downward spiral of Pakistan, an alliance essentially based around the notion of security and stability in Europe could look a little dated. Indeed, with the economic crisis there continuing this past week with Greece’s failure to form a coalition government, sparking renewed talk about the future of the euro, the gravest threat to Europe’s stability now appears to have economic, not military roots.
So, how can NATO remain relevant? A few ideas come with a roundup of analysis from the Council on Foreign Relations today.
Read the full story at The Diplomat