This is my 400th post on this blog.
As I wrote earlier, NATO is needed, and those who suggest that the US abolish this alliance or withdraw from it are wrong and discredit themselves by saying so.
But NATO is clearly broken and needs to be reformed if it is to be relevant in the 21st century world. This blueprint shows how.
1) Cancel the construction of NATO’s new HQ to save up to $1.38 bn.
2) Reform NATO’s financial practices, including the procedure of informing member states about NATO’s expenditures.
3) Develop a cohesive Strategic Concept and cohesive plans for everything NATO does, including the Afghan war.
4) After the Afghan war ends, define NATO’s mission as exclusively territorial defense, not “out-of-area operations”. NATO must be focused on a single mission – its original mission – territorial defense.
5) Reduce the number of personnel at NATO’s HQ from 4500 to 450, i.e. by a factor of ten. (http://spectator.org/archives/2011/03/28/nato-reconsidered/1)
6) Abolish NATO’s Academic Affairs Unit (a PR unit), the “Science for Peace and Security Committee”, the NATO Multimedia Library, the NATO Schools, the NATO Recreation Center, and NATO’s bloated PR unit. (http://spectator.org/archives/2011/03/28/nato-reconsidered/1; http://spectator.org/archives/2011/03/28/nato-reconsidered/2)
NATO can and must be reformed. The US should not withdraw from it. But NATO must be reformed if it is to remain relevant in this world.
