NATO Divided on How to Combat the Threat of Communism

After today’s NATO meeting started with a minute of silence for the fallen American soldiers in all wars, NATO began to debate how to respond to the current tensions in Czechoslovakia.

After Norway cleared up confusion about them wanting to intervene in Czechoslovakia, which they do not, they brought attention to the possibility of a military intervention by the Soviets. This possibility was taken seriously by most NATO member states, with the notable exception of France. France, already having weakened the alliance by withdrawing from its military command structure two years ago, did not seem to take the issue seriously, arguing against any intervention altogether, including economic aid. Other members were much more supportive of the people living under Soviet oppression, with Portugal asking „[…] our alliance to come together and fight communism everywhere.“ 

While NATO is a defensive alliance, communism is a threat not just towards free and democratic countries, but towards humanity as a whole. NATO of course will not invade other nations, but the Soviets must consider that the democratic world will not stand by and watch should they try to invade Czechoslovakia. As Britain phrased, there cannot be a „head-in-the-sand strategy“. France must accept this.

While there is still much division among NATO members on the details of possible strategies, it remains a strong alliance, united in its core values. Debate is the nature of democracy, setting it apart from the oppressed world. So even if NATO is divided on this issue, having an open debate among its equal members already shows a strength that the Soviet-aligned world can only dream of.