Historically countries made alliances to improve their defense or otherwise advance important security interests. In contrast, the U.S. uses NATO as a form of international welfare, inducting nations with little military capability or even economic strength. The latest recipient of defense charity is expected to be Montenegro, whose membership application influential Senators hope to rush through the lame duck session.
Montenegro is a postage stamp nation with the population of one congressional district. It is located in the unstable, brutal, and nationalistic Balkans, the fount of so much conflict and hardship throughout history. Montenegrins never had an easy time of it, with the Turks, Russians, Serbs, Italians, and Austro-Hungarians all fighting for regional dominance at different times.
But a fascinating if slightly off-color history is no argument for NATO membership. The finest compliment that can be paid to Montenegro today is that it doesn’t matter internationally. A notoriously corrupt enclave that split off from Serbia a decade ago, Montenegro mimics the Duchy of Grand Fenwick in The Mouse that Roared, only hoping to get rich by joining NATO rather than by fighting America.
It should not surprise anyone that officials in Podgorica want to get on the transatlantic gravy train. Last week a new government was sworn after messy elections in October. Newly installed Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said his government expected to complete the accession process this coming spring, and that membership would “provide the level of security we haven’t had in the past.” He added that he hoped to “overcome misunderstandings with our historic ally Russia,” as if the NATO was directed against some country other than Russia.
In fact, the transatlantic alliance won’t safeguard Montenegro, which is threatened by no one. But membership will offer official status and further open the financial spigots, since Washington is expected to generously assist new members. Alas, it might take some work to ensure that the money does not get siphoned off in a country some have termed a “mafia state.” In fact, the previous prime minister, who effectively served for most of a quarter century, Milo Djukanovic, had a “long history of corrupt and criminal activity,” noted analyst James Nadeau. In fact, Djukanovic was known as “Mr. Ten Percent.” Recommended by Forbes
Milo Djukanovic, Montenegro’s prime minister, speaks during an interview at his office in Podgorica, Montenegro, on Friday, May 8, 2009. (Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg News)
Still, might Montenegro’s inclusion provide some benefit to other alliance members? Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael R. Carpenter offered studied nonsense when he testified to Montenegro’s many virtues before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The military now is interoperable with NATO forces, he declared, as if that was a reason to protect another nation. Montenegro shared the alliance’s “values of democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law,” even though they are rarely evident in Montenegrin politics.
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