What even happens if one NATO member attacks another? Does the aggressor immediately get their membership nullified and the rest must come together and declare war on them?
NATO immediately loses all credibility. Otherwise, nothing much.
NATO was founded as a defensive pact against the Soviet Union.
The only time it was ever used was as a tool by the US to force other countries to join the war in Afghanistan.
Article 5 isn’t an automatism that forces all members to start an all-out war. They’re still sovereign.
Technically it was never used, that the three-ish nations provided troops and something like 40-ish nations provided logistics voluntarily, off the top of my head.
While the USA was attacked on 9/11, the attackers being unclear made it difficult to evoke a full NATO response.
A full NATO response would look very very different.
Intra-alliance fighting has always been a concern because of Greece and Turkey. Article 5 is probably the only reason they haven’t already gone to war. But yeah the US would fight all of European NATO that answers the call, win a pyrrhic victory, and destabilize Europe for the next 100 years.
What even happens if one NATO member attacks another? Does the aggressor immediately get their membership nullified and the rest must come together and declare war on them?
NATO immediately loses all credibility. Otherwise, nothing much.
NATO was founded as a defensive pact against the Soviet Union.
The only time it was ever used was as a tool by the US to force other countries to join the war in Afghanistan.
Article 5 isn’t an automatism that forces all members to start an all-out war. They’re still sovereign.
Technically it was never used, that the three-ish nations provided troops and something like 40-ish nations provided logistics voluntarily, off the top of my head.
While the USA was attacked on 9/11, the attackers being unclear made it difficult to evoke a full NATO response.
A full NATO response would look very very different.
I mean, it’s never happened. But the US declaring war on Danish territory would violate Article 5.
Intra-alliance fighting has always been a concern because of Greece and Turkey. Article 5 is probably the only reason they haven’t already gone to war. But yeah the US would fight all of European NATO that answers the call, win a pyrrhic victory, and destabilize Europe for the next 100 years.
US wouldn’t win, that would be the best time for China to overtake them on the global stage