Fall 2017 JPI

American national security is pegged to alliances like NATO and the EU, and in order to sustain our
perception to exist between security, well-being and power as the United States, we must continue to
view NATO as a relevant partner. The United States plays an indispensable role in the global fight for
freedom, one that utilizes NATO as the vehicle for the completion of our goals, and it is incredibly
important that we maintain the will to lead. American national security warrants that crucial decisions
are made to define the future of the future world order, and our place in it. 46 If we withdrew from the
international community to concentrate solely on nation-building in our own domestic sphere, “then
the forces fighting against liberal democracy and our way of life will gain ground, and America will be
faced with the prospect of stronger foes, weaker friends, and a less secure world.” 47 There are several
strong states that can challenge liberal democracy, specifically China, who “has combined authoritarian
government with a partially marketized economy,” 48 whilst G. John Ikenberry believes that the fact
that today’s rising states are mostly large non-Western developing countries gives force to this
narrative. The old liberal international order was designed and built in the west. Brazil, China, India,
and other fast-emerging states have a different set of cultural, political, and economic experiences, and
the see the world through their anti-imperial and anticolonial pasts. 49
CONCLUSION
NATO and American national security are like glove and hand; both coexist with the help of
the other and are supplemental. A large number of scholars say American power is in decline.
However, the problem with American power in the twenty-first century is not that of decline, but the
need for realization that even a hegemon like the United States cannot possibly achieve all of its goals
without the help of allies. The twenty-first century presents an increasing number of challenges to the
Western liberal order, and it requires the United States to share its efforts with allies and partners to
combat them. 50 This point is integral to the notion that NATO remains relevant to American national
security. With a rapidly rising China 51 and an ever more assertive Russia 52 , we currently need more
multilateralism, and not less. The period of American primacy on a unilateral front is over. 53 However,
the world still looks to the United States to take the lead on global challenges that confront us all, and
this is where the United States should remain steadfast as the world’s main superpower. The NATO
is relevant to American national security, now more than ever.
46 Ian Bremmer, Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World (New York, NY: Portfolio Penguin, 2016).
47 Anders Fogh Rasmussen, The Will to Lead: America's Indispensable Role in the Global Fight for Freedom (New York, NY: Broadside, 2016).
48 Francis Fukuyama, "The Future of History," Foreign Affairs, September 30, 2013, accessed May 06, 2017,
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2012-01-01/future-history.
49 G. John Ikenberry, "The Future of the Liberal World Order," Foreign Affairs, April 18, 2011, accessed May 06, 2017,
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2011-05-01/future-liberal-world-order.
50 Fareed Zakaria, "Can America Be Fixed?," Foreign Affairs, November 20, 2016, accessed May 07, 2017,
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2012-12-03/can-america-be-fixed.
51 Gideon Rachman, Easternization: War and Peace in the Asian Century (New York, NY: Other Press, 2017).
52 Edward Lucas, The New Cold War: Putin's Russia and the Threat to the West (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
53 Joseph S. Nye, Jr., "The Future of American Power," Foreign Affairs, November 23, 2016, accessed May 06, 2017,
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2010-11-01/future-american-power.
JPI Fall 2017, pg. 19