#American #state #protected #NATO
Earlier this week, Sweden joined NATO, becoming the 31st country embraced by the defense alliance.
This means that all of Sweden will be incorporated by NATO’s Article Five, which actually separates the country from the alliance’s by far largest contributor, the United States.
Because even though the USA is also covered by article five, it does not apply to the whole country, but only to 49 of the country’s 50 states.
Because the small, tropical island paradise of Hawaii is amazingly not covered by Article Five.
It was CNN who first mentioned the matter.
– It is very strange. People often think that since Hawaii is part of the United States, it is covered by NATO, but it is not, David Santoro, president of the think tank Pacific Forum, tells the TV channel.
Huge energy problems after attack
Pearl Harbor not covered
This means that if a foreign power had directed an attack on Hawaii, such as on the well-known military base Pearl Harbor, as Japan did in 1941, other NATO countries would not be obliged to provide the state’s defense.
The exception is because NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is just that, an organization centered around the North Atlantic areas.
Hawaii is, of course, in the Pacific Ocean, and unlike other US states, the 50th state is not part of the continental United States, which reaches the North Atlantic Ocean on its eastern coast.
RUSSIA: Emmanuel Macron believes it is important not to rule out the possibility of sending NATO soldiers to Ukraine, even though there are no plans for this as of now. Vladimir Putin responds to Macron with threats of World War III. Reporter: Edward Stenlund. Video: AP Show more
The exception is written into the Washington Treaty, the document that established NATO in 1949, a decade before Hawaii became a state.
Also applies to Guam
While the treaty’s article five allows for collective self-defense in the event of a military attack on a member state, article six limits the geographical scope of this.
“An armed attack on one or more of the Parties shall be deemed to include an armed attack on the territory of any of the Parties in Europe or North America,” states Article Six. It also states that any island territories must be in the North Atlantic, north of the northern tropic.
This means that Guam, which is a US territory, is also not covered by Article Five.
Överstelöjtnant Joakim Paasikivi believes that if the war between Russia and Ukraine is not over within the next two years, it could continue for an uncomfortably long time. Video: Expressen/AP. Reporter: Christina H. Korneliussen Show more
For example, NATO did not join Britain’s war with Argentina in 1982 after Argentine troops invaded the Falkland Islands, a disputed British territory in the South Atlantic.
– Coalition of volunteers
However, this does not mean that a possible attack against Hawaii or Guam would go unanswered by America’s allies.
Some analysts argue that if a hypothetical attack on Hawaii were to take place, the deep and enduring ties that bind the United States and its democratic allies would be significantly more significant in the countries’ decision-making processes than a formality in the NATO treaty.
– If an attack had occurred, I expect that the United States would try to put together a coalition of voluntary countries involving primarily – but certainly not exclusively – regional allies, says Luis Simon, director of the Research Center for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, to CNN.
