Word: nato
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...glance, adding former Warsaw Pact allies of the Soviet Union to the ranks of the triumphant NATO alliance seems a good idea. After all, the argument went, these were the captive nations, now freed, and they deserve the advantages of membership, including the guarantee that an attack on any member will be considered an attack on all of them...
...security are back at their drawing boards. They are trying to seal peace and stability into Europe's future and, although they don't say so very loudly, hedge against the rise of a vengeful Russia. In Madrid this week, a summit meeting of the 16 nations of NATO is starting to enlarge and reshape what is now usually described as the most successful alliance in history. The question is whether it will continue...
...enterprise intended to preserve international amity, the expansion of NATO has produced a discomforting amount of friction and ill will. Even this week's summit could turn into a "food fight," as an American official puts it, because the U.S. has ruled that only three new countries will be admitted to NATO in the first round, though others are to come in later. The welcome mat is out for the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. But France, Italy, Canada and other members of the alliance were pushing the candidacies of Romania and Slovenia, and in some conference rooms charges...
While he is still in Europe, Clinton will find telegenic and symbolic sites to begin his next task: persuading the U.S. Senate to ratify the NATO treaty to include the new members. All the other national parliaments involved will have to ratify it too, but the Senate is the key. If it falters, some of the Europeans could drift away. And while the White House expects to win the two-thirds vote it needs in the Senate, it no longer believes rounding up 67 votes will be a simple matter...
...many odd things about the plan to expand NATO has been the absence of debate, either in public or among the politicians who will have to judge the policy right or wrong for their countries. The discussion has only begun, and Administration officials say they are amazed at how the foreign policy elite in the U.S. has coalesced in opposition to expansion. Skepticism is showing up in Congress as well, where 20 Senators sent Clinton a letter asking a string of questions about the wisdom of letting the East Europeans into the NATO club. They were joined by a group...