The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded in 1949 to ostensibly contain the Soviet Union, which swallowed up a large portion of Europe and had many satellite states throughout the Old Continent.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO apparently had outlived its usefulness. The Soviet Union’s primary successor state, the Russian Federation, was in no way as powerful nor presented an existential threat to the balance of power in Europe.
George Kennan, one of America’s premier diplomats, warned about expanding NATO once the Cold War ended. In correspondence with the New York Times, Kennan boldly proclaimed that NATO enlargement towards Russia’s borders would create the conditions of a “new cold war.”
The author of America’s Cold War containment policy continued:
“I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies. I think it is a tragic mistake. There was no reason for this whatsoever. No one was threatening anybody else. This expansion would make the Founding Fathers of this country turn over in their graves. We have signed up to protect a whole series of countries, even though we have neither the resources nor the intention to do so in any serious way.”
However, DC policymakers had other things in mind once the Soviet Union dissolved.
In 1999, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland joined NATO. Subsequently, in 2004, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia joined NATO. Realist international relations scholar John Mearsheimer maintained that Russia “swallowed” these NATO additions at that point in history. Russia tolerated these moves because it was not powerful enough to push back against the West.
However, in the cases of Georgia (2008) and Ukraine (2014 & 2022), Russia demonstrated its willingness to use force as a way to veto potential NATO additions.
Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine has brought back talks about NATO’s viability in the 21st century and if its posturing over the past three decades has contributed to the current security crisis in Eastern Europe.
In a recent Quinnipiac poll, voters were surveyed about the US’s role in NATO.
Right-populist journalist Ryan Girdusky detailed some of the principal findings of this survey:
Do you think the US should leave NATO (yes/no)?
Voters: 25/67
GOP: 39/49
Dems: 3/92
Indie: 28/66
Do you think the US should leave NATO (yes/no)?
Voters: 25/67
GOP: 39/49
Dems: 3/92
Indie: 28/66— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) April 6, 2022
Overall, Republicans tend to be the most hostile voting bloc with regards to the US’s involvement in NATO. Liberty conservatives must take advantage of this and stress that NATO is an outdated alliance that does not serve any pressing American interest.
On top of that, it’s the very entangling alliance the Founding Fathers warned about. At this juncture, American foreign policy should be focused on securing its southern border and dedicating most of its security resources in the Western Hemisphere i.e. America’s traditional sphere of influence.
