To anyone who believes the key to winning the war against Islamic terrorism is nothing less than full-fledged global cooperation, the recent bold comments by Jose Maria Aznar had to be encouraging.
Aznar, the former prime minister of Spain, advocated a much more active role for NATO. Its raison d’etre today, declared Aznar, must be “to defeat Islamist terror.”
In a widely-circulated editorial piece, Aznar said, “Jihadism has replaced communism, as communism replaced Nazism as a mortal danger, so NATO must put defense against Islamist terrorism at the center of its strategy.” He also urged NATO to develop a homeland security dimension “if it wants to remain relevant to the strategic demands of our time.”
What surely took a lot of Europeans aback, however, was his call for a further expansion of NATO’s membership. He wants more countries that share the values of “liberal democracies,” and he wants the geographical base broadened. NATO, said Aznar, should invite Japan, Australia and Israel as full members and offer a strategic association to Colombia and India.
Israel in NATO?
The things you can say when you’re no longer in office.