Finland officially joined the NATO alliance last week to great fanfare after a year-long accession process marked by a distinct lack of debate. The Nordic country, nestled between Sweden and Russia, long has championed a neutral foreign policy, but as Russian forces surged across Ukraine’s eastern border in February 2022, public opinion in Finland shifted dramatically toward support for NATO membership. While Finns may believe this decision bolsters their national security, Americans should question how defending yet another European ally—particularly one that shares an 830-mile border with Russia—is in the U.S. interest.
One would think that the consequential decision of committing U.S. troops to fight and die for another country would warrant rigorous debate in Congress. However, that debate was largely nonexistent last summer when the proposal was brought to the floor of the Senate, with only one senator—Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)—voting against further NATO expansion. With Finland now firmly under NATO’s Article 5 guarantee that states an attack on one member is an attack on all members, the best strategic outcome for the United States is to use this moment as an inflection point to transform a one-sided trans-Atlantic relationship to become more equitable.
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