The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) currently has 31 member countries united by the motto “All for one, one for all,” reminiscent of the Three Musketeers. However, this alliance raises concerns: some members are unstable and could provoke attacks that others would be obligated to defend, while certain nations harbor animosity toward the U.S. Recently, Norway even refused to refuel an American ship. Why should the U.S. be bound to defend every member? At the onset of the Cold War, NATO served a purpose, but that era has long since ended.
The principle of collective defense—enshrined in Article 5, which declares an attack on one as an attack on all—sounds noble, but does it hold up? On September 11, 2001, terrorists struck the United States, and while most NATO allies contributed to the response, participation was uneven. The U.S. deployed over 1 million troops, while the rest of NATO sent 300,000—despite Europe’s NATO countries having a combined population nearing 1 billion, dwarfing the U.S. population of roughly 340 million. Some members sent no troops, and Canada cut and ran in 2011; so much for solidarity.
Take Norway, an original NATO signatory, which offered a weak excuse for denying fuel to a U.S. vessel. Or consider Turkey: in 2003, it barred American troops from using its territory as a staging ground for the Iraq invasion. Does anyone honestly believe Turkey would rush to America’s aid in a crisis?
Here’s another twist, contrary to common belief: While the UK and France were in NATO, both were once part of the now-defunct Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), yet neither sent troops to Vietnam. The U.S., meanwhile, sacrificed over 58,000 young lives in that conflict. NATO members today fail to meet the alliance’s defense spending target of 2% of GDP, effectively freeloading off the U.S. military might instead of bolstering their forces. This imbalance undermines NATO’s strength.
The alliance is increasingly obsolete in a world shaped by new powers like China and other parts of Asia, and problems evolving in the Middle East, Africa, and South America. Leaving NATO would allow the U.S. to make custom deals with nations instead of sticking to an old setup. We would be free to tailor partnerships with individual nations. The current setup risks entangling the U.S. in unwanted conflicts—think of Turkey’s regional disputes or the recent addition of Finland and Sweden, whose proximity to Russia could spark trouble.
Exiting NATO would let the U.S. sidestep these time bombs and focus on defending our interests on our terms. In short, we don’t need it anymore.