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NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, was founded in 1949 to keep the Germans down, the Russians out, and the Americans in. The Germans had to be kept down because in 1866, Germany had essentially become an enlarged Prussia after Austria’s defeat in a war against Prussia. The new Reich was aggressive and dangerous, fighting two ferocious wars against France and Great Britain. Six years after NATO’s founding, in 1955, the Germans, however, became members. Prussia was no longer. The militant Reich had become a peaceful Bund. The first goal was achieved. NATO also managed to keep the Russians out. After 1949, the Russians gained no new territory in Europe or North America, having before then subdued all of Central and Eastern Europe. The third goal was also achieved after 1949: the Americans guaranteed the security of Western Europe, with their nuclear capabilities and enormous military might. Peace in Europe was thanks to them, not to the European Union. But now, frustrated over Europe’s lack of support for the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, President Donald Trump hints at the Americans leaving NATO. Although Trump’s bark is usually worse than his bite, the Europeans should worry. Isolationism is the rule rather than the exception in American politics.
The Attacks Breach No International Law
European commentators argue that the attacks on Iran breach international law. Whereas Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are funded and armed by Iran, these commentators assert that the Mullahs cannot be directly blamed for the specific actions of those terrorist organisations, such as firing missiles against American or Israeli targets. But respected legal scholars, including Professor Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg, reject this argument. According to them, although the Mullahs had acted by proxy, providing intelligence, paying salaries, and defining the strategic goals of the terrorists rather than commanding specific actions, they can be said to be in control. The terrorists should be regarded as the ‘extended arm’ of the Iranian regime. Hence, Iran is the real aggressor in recent missile firings, which allowed the U.S. and Israel to counter-attack in self-defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. On a wider interpretation of Article 51, the U.S. and Israeli attacks were also justified as pre-emptive strikes against the fanatical Mullahs producing nuclear bombs and long-range missiles.
Iran Wreaking Havoc in Middle East
It is true that America’s NATO allies were not consulted about the attacks on Iran (except, peremptorily, the United Kingdom). But consultations would have removed the element of surprise, which enabled the Americans and the Israelis to take out a lot of the Mullahs and their henchmen. It is also true that NATO is first and foremost a defence alliance: an attack on one member state is an attack on all of them. Therefore, Trump cannot really blame NATO for not coming to the assistance of the U.S. and Israel in Iran. But unfortunately, this argument about NATO’s narrow role was greatly weakened in its unwise 2011 operation in Gaddafi’s Libya, aimed at bringing about regime change rather than to disarm a dangerous dictator. The Iranian military is too weak to fight the U.S. and Israel forces, but strong enough to wreak havoc in the Middle East, not least by closing the Hormuz Strait, although the Mullahs themselves stand to lose most from it economically.
Threats to Europe, Too
As Trump points out, it is more in the interest of European countries than of the U.S. to keep the oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. It is also in the interest of European countries to eliminate the Houthis, who attack ships passing the Red Sea except those from Russia and China. Russian expansionism and Islamic fundamentalism are threats to Europe. By their daring and stunningly successful operations in Iran, the U.S. and Israel have greatly reduced the latter threat. But the European countries can no longer rely on the U.S. (and Israel) alone to remove all threats to regional security. The Americans must see in Europe a reliable and strong ally that has not lost the will to defend itself. The task ahead is to keep them in NATO.