Georgian military debacle may spark demise of Nato

[inanna]

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, is a remarkable case of institutional survival in the face of changing circumstances.

It was created in 1949 to protect Western Europe from the Soviet threat, and in 1989 the Soviet threat vanished. Yet Nato not only survived the collapse of the Soviet Union but expanded, taking in all the former satellite states of Eastern Europe and even the Baltic republics that had been part of the Russian empire for more than 200 years. But the Georgian debacle could break Nato.

<snip>

Yet US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice looked deeply uncomfortable last week in Tbilisi as she stood beside the ranting Saakashvili.

Perhaps she was pondering the fact that while the "new Europe" of former Soviet-bloc countries uncritically backs Georgia and the US commitment there, the "old Europe" of Germany, France, Italy and their neighbours mostly does not.

Read more: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=359&objectid=10528311

[The Magistrate]

1. Expanding N.A.T.O. Into The Former Warsaw Pact Was A Mistake, Ma'am

Pressing it on into the former Soviet Union was a major blunder....

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

[Union Thug]

2. Good riddance NATO - Hammer of imperialist ambitions n/t

[stillcool]

3. I wonder how long before the..

U.N. goes under.

[Marblehead]

4. I hope n/t