What exactly does armed attack mean in a century of hybrid threats, from election interference and political manipulation to cyberattacks, frozen conflicts, little green men in Europe, and land reclamation in Asia?96In international law, armed attack authorizes self-defense and differs from mere aggression. The French language obfuscates the difference between the two by using the expression agression arme for armed attack. In its landmark 1986 Nicaragua decision, the ICJ stated that armed attack may include the sending or on behalf of a State of armed bands, groups, irregular or mercenaries provided that the adverse State has effective control over them.97Karl Zemanek, Armed Attack,Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law(Oxford: Oxford University Press, October 2013), https://opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e241. It was given expression in the Farewell Address of Pres. Instead, we should focus on cultivating alliances that help us out militarily and let us reduce our defense burden. Updated on January 28, 2020. Significance: Entangling Alliances one of the five reason of World War 1. He was not alone. In my opinion, NATO is the definition of an entangling alliance. Definition and examples. Since 1996, US officials have made it clear that the contested Senkaku islands (called Diaoyu by China) were covered by the US-Japan security treaty. Entangling Alliances. As per Saudi Arabia, US presidents have used language such as the United States is interested in the preservation of the independence and territorial integrity of Saudi Arabia. The protection of a weaker power remains a vehicle for political influence, commercial benefits (notably arms sales),80A. Clear-cut cases of aggression triggering security guarantees include the following scenarios: a Russian attack against Poland, the Baltic states or Turkey; a North Korean offensive against South Korea; a Chinese operation against Taiwan; a China-Japan fight over the Senkaku islands; a North Korean strike against Japan; a China-Philippines war in the South China Sea; and an Iranian attack against a Gulf State or Israel. Triple Entente. It was not a given either that the US-Saudi defense relationship would have survived 9/11 and Jamal Khashoggis murder, or that the US-Turkey alliance would survive the acquisition by Ankara of modern Russian air defense systems. John Psaropoulous, Greece Ratifies Landmark Intra-NATO Defence Pact with France,. The NATO treaty, which defines at length its scope of application, concerns only Europe and North America. This includes Alaska but not Hawaii and US territories in the Pacific.89The North Atlantic Treaty, April 4, 1949, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17120.htm; see Tertrais, Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. The US-Japan treaty covers the territories under the administration of Japan.90The treaty of mutual cooperation and security between Japan and the United States, January 19, 1960, https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/n-america/us/q&a/ ref/1.html. i. As an example, the Dual Alliance of 1879 committed Austria-Hungary and Germany to come down on Russia with the whole war strength of their empires. See The Dual Alliance Between Austria-Hungary and Germany October 7, 1879, The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library (website), accessed May 30, 2022. This is the case for two of the most important ones: NATO and the CSTO. It must also leave enough room of maneuver to the protector. Today, the US administration is expanding and consolidating these links seeking to build a latticework of alliances and partnerships globally that are fit for purpose for the twenty-first century.79A Conversation With Jake Sullivan, Council on Foreign Relations, December 17, 2021, https://www.cfr.org/event/conversation-jake-sullivan. cms; Emmanuel Macron, Discours du Prsident de la Rpublique la Conference des Ambassadeurs, Office of the President of France, August 27, 2019, https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2019/08/27/discours-du-president-de-la-republique-a-la-conference-des-ambassadeurs-1. Thus, if simple models of a division of labor between Europeans and Americans in case of major war accurately reflect the complex realities of how such crises would unfold, Europeans should expect to take up more defense responsibilities for the defense of the continent, whatever the scenario. This definition of alliance also excludes collective security organizations such as the Organization for the Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), as well as groupings such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).10Vali Kaleji, The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Is No New Warsaw Pact or Eastern NATO,National Interest, November 13, 2021, https://nationalinterest.org/feature/shanghai-cooperation-organization-no-%E2%80%98new-warsaw%E2%80%99-or-%E2%80%98easternnato%E2%80%99-196138. For militia as well as cyberattacks, international law provides the useful concept of cumulative effects. Author Jason W. Davidson examines these alliances to shed light on their nature and what they reveal about the evolution of American power. In any case, here, too, the Europeans should expect to carry a heavier part of the burden than would have been the case during the Cold War. Walt calls an alliance a formal or informal arrangement for security cooperation between two or more sovereign states.13Stephen M. Walt,The Origins of Alliances(Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1987), 12. A missile threat against US territory in North America would in turn compel NATO allies to express their solidarity with Washington and get involved. 2. to make tangled or twisted; snarl. There are two broad possible definitions of what an alliance is.8This paper refers only to permanent or standing alliances, not ad hoc or temporary coalitions. NATO is increasingly projecting its security umbrella over European nonmembers. Dan Williams, Israel Defence Chief Sees Special Security Arrangement with Gulf States, Reuters, March 2, 2021. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Partnership with the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Statement, North Atlantic Council Meeting in Ministerial Session in Copenhagen, June 6-7, 1991, NATO Online Library. Even US-New Zealand defense cooperation is now being rejuvenated after decades of neglect.68United States | New Zealand Council, Washington Declaration on Defense Cooperation, US|NZ Council website, June 19, 2012, http://usnzcouncil.org/ us-nz-issues/washington-declaration/. How Nationalism In The Balkans Contributed To The Outbeak Of WW1. All this suggests that allies do not get embroiled by mere virtue of a text or declaration: going to war would remain a political decision. In 2010, the CTSOs mutual defense provisions were significantly reinforced to include other forms of armed attack that threaten the security, stability, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the parties.53Collective Security Treaty, Collective Security Treaty Organization, https://en.odkb-csto.org/documents/documents/dogovor_o_kollektivnoy_ bezopasnosti/; Presidency of Russia, Protocol on Amendments to the Collective Security Treaty Has Been Submitted to the State Duma for Ratification, August 31, 2011, http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/12507/print. 4. to involve in difficulties; entrap. Yet, there is more to it than that. The Alliance also has developed a web of security partnerships with many countries: fifteen partners for peace, seven members of the Mediterranean Dialogue, four Gulf countries of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, as well as nine partners across the globe. Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, and Georgia have joined the NATO Response Force.30Sweden to Join NATO Response Force and Exercise Steadfast Jazz, NATO, Newsroom (website), October 14, 2013, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/ news_104086.htm. The defensive nature of modern alliances provides stability and predictability in the international system.83To be sure, Russia claims that NATOs role in the ex-Yugoslavia or in Libya is the proof of its offensive nature, but such compellence (i.e., coercive) operations were designed to protect civilians, not, say, to invade a country. Alliances also have a pacifying effect: they damp the risk of open conflict among members. They apply to any aggression.74Mira Rapp-Hooper, Absolute Alliances: Extended Deterrence in International Politics (doctoral dissertation, Columbia University, 2015), Columbia University Academic Commons (website), https://doi.org/10.7916/D85Q4TWX. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been described as a new Warsaw Pact or Eastern NATO.127Vali Kaleji, The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Is No New Warsaw Pact or Eastern NATO,National Interest, November 13, 2021, https://nationalinterest.org/feature/shanghai-cooperation-organization-no-%E2%80%98new-warsaw%E2%80%99-or-%E2%80%98easternnato%E2%80%99-196138. China or North Korea could warn US allies to stay out by reminding them of the vulnerability of their countries to cyberattacks and missile strikeswhich, in turn, would force Paris or London to counter Bejings threats through deterrence. A few years later, in 2011, Turkey and Azerbaijan concluded a defense pact.59Shahin Abbasov, Azerbaijan-Turkey Military Pact Signals Impatience With Minsk Talks: Analysts, Eurasianet (news site), January 18, 2011, https://eurasianet.org/azerbaijan-turkey-military-pact-signals-impatience-with-minsk-talks-analysts. There is no need for complacency. 1907. Still, existing alliances, even as they proliferate, provide real and lasting benefits to both the protectors and the protected, and thus command more loyalty from all sides than many critics are willing to countenance. To be sure, Russia claims that NATOs role in the ex-Yugoslavia or in Libya is the proof of its offensive nature, but such compellence (i.e., coercive) operations were designed to protect civilians, not, say, to invade a country. In 2012, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey instituted a strategic partnership that includes a military dimension.65Zaur Shiriyev, Institutionalizing a Trilateral Strategic Partnership: Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Policy Paper, 2016, https://www.kas.de/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=cd257d1b-df92-5184-9ad4-2a5dd95c0886&groupId=252038. Economically, it has allowed the United States to set the rules of international trade and finance and, on balance, remain well positioned to reap the advantages of that system. In 2020, Greece and the UAE signed a security agreement that reportedly contained a mutual defense clause.60Vassilis Nedos, Greece, UAE Commit to Mutual Defense Assistance,Ekathimerini, November 23, 2020, https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/259450/ greece-uae-commit-to-mutual-defense-assistance/. Washington advised against "permanent alliances," whereas Jefferson, in his inaugural address on 4 March 1801, declared his devotion to "peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling . Shahin Abbasov, Azerbaijan-Turkey Military Pact Signals Impatience With Minsk Talks: Analysts, Eurasianet (news site), January 18, 2011, Vassilis Nedos, Greece, UAE Commit to Mutual Defense Assistance,, US Department of State, Major Non-NATO Ally Status, Fact Sheet, Aaron Mehta, Finland, Sweden, and US Sign Trilateral Agreement, with Eye on Increased Exercises,. For a good balance sheet of US alliances, see Hal Brands and Peter Feaver, What Are Americas Alliances Good For?, Parameters 47, no. The Washington Doctrine of Unstable Alliances, sometimes called the caution against entangling alliances, was an early realist guide for US foreign policy and the nation's interaction with others. The Myth of Entangling Alliances War on the Rocks from warontherocks.com. In case of a conflict in East Asia, the probability that allies would be directly pulled into combat operations is low (except perhaps for the case of South Korea, due to the aforementioned 1953 commitments by sixteen countries to defend the peace on the peninsula). Which defines at length its scope of application, concerns only Europe and North America would in turn NATO. For armed attack with France, America entangling alliances definition in turn compel NATO allies to their. 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