The Time has Come to “Europeanise” NATO

JeanMarc Vigilant

Calls for stronger European leadership and strategic autonomy within NATO

Timeframe: 01/01/1949 – 01/01/2024

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) · Military Alliances · Issue IV

Key Insights

• The relationship between the United States (US) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is often fantasised about by Europeans, who are quick to confound US defence with NATO. However, we should consider NATO in the same way as the Americans – a European regional organisation in which the United States participate.

Definition

A coalition of the willing: A coalition of the willing is an association of states to achieve a specifc, narrow goal. This term has been used in several contexts and is most famously used by the US-led coalition in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

This stands in contrast to most European countries, where the Chief of Defense Staff (CHODS) is the sole operational commander of all national military forces.

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