this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2025
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Explain Like I'm Five

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Why doesn't NATO just say hey Ukraine you can join? Ukraine is going up and holding its own against 1 bully. Wouldn't it benefit NATO to say hey we protect everyone from bullies? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 weeks ago by Patnou@lemmy.world to c/explainlikeimfive@lemmy.world
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[–] iii@mander.xyz 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

If any member is attacked, every other member has to come to their aid.

They don't have to. It stipulates that a war on one member is viewed as a declaration of war on all members. But there's no protocol that forces members to act.

For example when the Cypriot war broke out between Greece and Turkey, both NATO members.

[–] Pika@rekabu.ru 6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Then it would make such membership meaningless and will only undermine collective action within NATO?

[–] iii@mander.xyz 5 points 2 weeks ago

It is what it is

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 week ago

Yeah, in practice this is interpreted as as everyone must join to retaliate, except maybe in niche cases like the aggressor also being in NATO.