Most of us know of Article 5, but do we really understand it? War in Ukraine has mandated us to understand!!

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organ­iz­a­tion) is an alli­ance of 30 European and North Amer­ican coun­tries, includ­ing the United States. Article 5 of its found­a­tional docu­ment sets forth NATO’s purpose and oblig­a­tions: ensur­ing peace and secur­ity through collect­ive defense. But what does that mean?

We’re heard a lot of talk about it on media and discussions with family and friends. Everyone seems to know a little but not a lot about NATO’s obligations and duties or about what the USA can do. Katherine Ebright of the Brennan Center for Justice does an excellent job of clearly and concisely answering these questions:

• What are a NATO member’s collective defense obligations?
• If a NATO ally is attacked, would Article 5 author­ize the pres­id­ent to send U.S. forces into conflict?
• What about the pres­id­ent’s inher­ent powers as commander in chief?
• What could Congress’s response to an invoc­a­tion of Article 5 look like?
• Would wait­ing for Congress conflict with our oblig­a­tions to aid our NATO allies?
• What would happen if the pres­id­ent sent the milit­ary abroad without secur­ing congres­sional author­iz­a­tion?
• What does the recent invoc­a­tion of Article 4 mean?

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