The Effect on NATO of the Projected European Union

Abstract

As Europe moves toward unity and is increas ingly able to speak with clarity, precision, and authority on given issues, European relationships with the United States and NATO will change. In the long run, this change will be constructive and will provide an additional unifying factor in NATO. The interests, needs, and ambitions of the fifteen member states of NATO are not the same, but, if harmony can be achieved within the European Economic Community, this can further unify the NATO alliance, certainly in non- military affairs. If member nations of NATO pursue common ideals and follow common policies, the development of different concepts of military strategy will not occur. Unity is not only a goal of the United States foreign policy but also an abiding necessity recognized by the peoples of Europe. An atmosphere and feeling of security, essential to the growth of co-operative ventures by NATO and the European Community, must rest upon economic strength and prosperity, for only prosperous nations can afford the military program upon which security depends. Attitudes of responsibility are also crucial. Each country must realize that responsibility to its own people is closely related to responsibility in holding together and strengthening the Atlantic community. As attention is directed in the immediate future toward domestic politics in many of the Atlantic countries, less attention may be devoted to NATO. We must, nevertheless, push forward if disarmament, stability, and peace are to be achieved.—Ed.