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https://theconversation.com/nato-at-75-a-muted-celebration-for-an-alliance-facing-uncertain-times-233718>
"Nato leaders will have much to celebrate when they gather in Washington for
the alliance’s 75th anniversary this week. Sweden will be welcomed to its first
summit as a Nato ally. The leaders will also note progress on defence budgets –
in 2024, 23 of the 32 allies will meet Nato’s target of spending 2% of their
GDP on defence.
The summit will be the last for the alliance’s long-serving secretary general,
Jens Stoltenberg. The well-qualified Mark Rutte, former prime minister of the
Netherlands, will move into his office in October.
Stoltenberg has indicated the summit will have three main topics: Ukraine,
deterrence and defence, and global partnerships. Each was a priority at the
Vilnius summit 12 months ago. Washington will, according to former Nato
spokesperson Oana Lungescu, be a “consolidation summit”.
Nato has cultivated global partners since the early 2000s, and focus has turned
recently to the Indo-Pacific. American – and to a lesser degree, British and
French – military commitment to countries in the region is considerable. But it
is not channelled via Nato.
The alliance has low-level bilateral partnerships with Australia, Japan, New
Zealand and South Korea (the so-called IP4). Inviting the IP4 leaders to the
summit is an act of diplomatic solidarity, showing that Nato is aligned with
America’s Pacific allies and partners in the strategic competition with China."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
