NATO Alliance:  Strengthening Through Clarity

The Problem

The NATO alliance has been the bedrock of Western security for over seventy years.  But longevity is not a substitute for clarity.  As threats evolve and member nations’ economies and capabilities diverge, the alliance needs explicit, mutually agreeable terms of engagement — not assumptions inherited from the Cold War.

At the same time, NATO’s industrial base remains fragmented.  Allied nations field equipment built to different standards, manufactured in siloed national supply chains, with limited cross-training between workforces.  This weakens interoperability in the field and misses an opportunity to strengthen allied economies through shared manufacturing expertise.

What We Propose

We support NATO [1] and will seek to clarify our engagement with the Alliance along explicit, mutually agreeable terms.  While we expect that all members will adhere to their treaty obligations, including financial commitments [2], we will predicate our interactions and expectations of the Alliance on those negotiated terms.

We will seek to support NATO interoperability right down to the level of the factory floor, by pursuing a treaty modification that fosters international manufacturing cross-training in recognized best practices — while fostering and protecting American job in-sourcing, rather than out-sourcing jobs.

We will seek the input of labor unions internationally for guidance on best implementation.  The workers who build defense equipment know what works and what doesn’t — their expertise belongs at the table.

How We’ll Know It’s Working