laststandonzombieisland

Truman speaking at the Washington Treaty Conference

On 4 April 1949, foreign ministers from the U.S and 11 countries (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom) gathered in Washington, DC to sign what was then known as the Washington Treaty. Nine of those countries had been occupied in whole or in part, by the Axis during WWII (counting the complicated 1943-45 history of Italy; Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark; as well as Attu, Kiska, Guam, and Wake).

NATO Headquarters in Brussels yesterday celebrated the 75th anniversary of those 12 North Atlantic-bordering/adjacent nations joining together in a defense alliance that has endured now for three-quarters of a century, while its younger  SEATO (1954-1977) and METO/CENTO (1955-1979) half-brothers died out generations ago.

By the time the Berlin Wall fell and the CCCP/USSR/Warsaw Pact soon followed, NATO had grown to 16 members. Nevertheless, the alliance stood as an undisputed victor of the Cold War.  

Now, with 32 member countries (including 30 of the 44 sovereign European states), the organization that has doubled in size since 1999 may be headed into its toughest years.

Still, the bands played on…