The “principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law” are man’s natural and inalienable rights upon which healthy societies are built. An Alliance such as NATO, being a voluntary organization, requires from its candidates and its active members that they guarantee the protection of values of human decency in individuals. NATO is, in other words, a society of free-states consisting of tolerant citizens, who live in harmony with their neighbors with whom they wish to ally.
Whether one regards NATO as North America’s and Europe’s encroaching hand or whether one conceptualizes the Alliance as the ready policeman of the world, NATO considers itself as the instrument of stability and well-being of the North Atlantic area “founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law.”
Upon the fall of the Wall in 1989, NATO hastily employed an open door policy, inviting and admitting former Warsaw Pact country members that militarily qualified to join, but lacked democratic values and principles, the absence of which contravene NATO’s own values. In other occasions, the Alliance invited quasi-qualified countries with their sole criterion being their strategic geopolitical location vis-à-vis Russia.
The FYROM’s candidacy to NATO is not only problematic, but also pointless. The FYROM does not meet any of the Preconditions set by NATO and save the exception of some troops that the FYROM sent to ISAF, it does not meet any other NATO requirements including a less than medium rated strategic location.
Whether one regards NATO as North America’s and Europe’s encroaching hand or whether one conceptualizes the Alliance as the ready policeman of the world, NATO considers itself as the instrument of stability and well-being of the North Atlantic area “founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law.”
Upon the fall of the Wall in 1989, NATO hastily employed an open door policy, inviting and admitting former Warsaw Pact country members that militarily qualified to join, but lacked democratic values and principles, the absence of which contravene NATO’s own values. In other occasions, the Alliance invited quasi-qualified countries with their sole criterion being their strategic geopolitical location vis-à-vis Russia.
The FYROM’s candidacy to NATO is not only problematic, but also pointless. The FYROM does not meet any of the Preconditions set by NATO and save the exception of some troops that the FYROM sent to ISAF, it does not meet any other NATO requirements including a less than medium rated strategic location.
(c) 2012 Marcus A. Templar