New Tasks for NATO?
| Published date | 01 September 1956 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205601100301 |
| Date | 01 September 1956 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
NEW
TASKS
FOR
NATO?
Wolfgang
Friedmann*
HERE is
a
sense
of
malaise about
NATO
and
its
future.
The
structure
stands.
But
much
of
the
spirit
that
animated
its
growth
seems
to have
gone
out
of
it.
The
achieve-
ment
of
NATO
in
less
than
seven
years
is
remarkable
enough.
Fifteen
democratic
nations
of
Europe
and
North
America
have
set
up,
in
peace
time,
a
joint
defence
organization
which,
at
least
at
the
top
level,
is
truly
supra-national.
They
have
been
able
to
reach
vital
decisions,
on
defence
contributions,
military
dispositions,
budgetary
commitments,
by
free
and
unanimous
agreement.
For
no
majority
rule obtains
in
the
Council
of
NATO.
They
have
set
up
a
permanent
secretariat,
the
back-
bone
of
any
efficient
international
organization.
From
an
emer-
gency
arrangement,
NATO
has
grown
into
one
of
the
great
international
organizations
of our
time. But
it
has
not
become
the
starting
point
for
bold
and
imaginative
moves
towards
an
Atlantic
union.
The
member
states
have
shown
little
inclination
to
entrust the
Organization
with
greater
powers.
More
recently,
the
Soviet
peace
offensive
has
helped to
corrode
the
links
that
forged
NATO
when
the
threat
of
aggression
seemed
more
im-
minent.
Some
of NATO's
most
important
members
feel
the
strain
of
their
commitments.
France
desperately
needs
her
best
divisions
to
cope
with
the
serious revolt
in
Algeria.
West
Germany
is
an
unenthusiastic
member
of
NATO.
Soviet
propa-
ganda
has
been
quite
successful
in
persuading many
Germans
that
NATO
is
the
major
obstacle
to
the
reunification
of
Ger-
many.
NATO
commitments
are
also
a
heavy
financial
load
for
most
of
its
members.
Great
Britain,
in
particular,
will
soon
feel
the
burden
of
having to
pay
for its
NATO
forces
stationed
in
Germany, a
charge
which
has
hitherto
been
borne
by
West
Germany
as
part
of
the
occupation
cost.
Some
of
the
smaller
members
of
NATO
are
also
exposed
to
conflicting
pulls
and
tensions.
The
Soviet
Union
is
gently
but
persistently
impressing
upon
the
two
Scandinavian
members
of
*Professor
of
International
Law
and
Relations,
Columbia
University;
formerly
Professor
of
Law, University
of
Toronto.
Professor
Fried-
mann
is
the author
of
numerous
articles,
pamphlets, and
books, in-
cluding
Law
and
Social Changes
in
Contemporary
Britain,
The
Allied
Military
Government
of
Germany,
and
Introduction
to
World
Politics.
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