Responding to mercantilist, militaristic and aggressive China requires transforming NATO into a global alliance of democracies with market economies which respect civil liberties & rule of law, Reps. Charles K. Djou and Adam Kinzinger write in The Economist:
Australia, Japan and South Korea all have democratically elected governments, market economies and healthy government institutions. The new NATO should start expansion by inviting these three countries into the alliance. In the long term, the organization could look to others, such as New Zealand, as well as Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and India, should their democracies meet NATO requirements. Eventually it should be open to adding experienced democracies from elsewhere too.
When the invitations for the projected Summit for Democracy are mailed, Hungary’s illiberal Victor Orban should not be on the list, Carnegie’s Dan Baer writes for Foreign Policy.
By demonstrating the common bonds among democracies and a shared opposition to coercion and aggression, we reinforce stability in ways that matters to the security of all, despite the wide variance in security capabilities and commitments across regions and alliances, adds Michael J Green, senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
The exact approach will matter, of course. In the upcoming “Summit for Democracy”, the Biden administration would do well to let countries such as Indonesia or Korea take a lead role in defining democratic practices since a multipolar influence strategy should reflect multiple paths to democracy, he writes for the Lowy Institute.
Standing up against authoritarianism demands that the West joins forces in a way that it hasn’t since the original alliance was created more than 70 years ago, Djou and Kinzinger contend. Democracy might be in recession today but it can recover with an alliance against authoritarianism, united under NATO and led by America. RTWT
To strengthen @NATO, we must expand.
In @TheEconomist, we argue welcoming democratic countries in the Asia-Pacific region will bolster our alliance & help counter a rising China. When democracy is threatened anywhere, it harms democracies everywhere. https://t.co/pKHfwdD6tv
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) July 14, 2021
