By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
If a foreign aggressor attacked Hawaii or Guam, the Department of State is optimistic that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would come to the rescue, notwithstanding the Pacific territories' exclusion from the treaty.
Any attack on the U.S. or its territories, “even if outside of the geographic scope of Article V, would almost certainly draw allied reaction," according to Philip G. Laidlaw, principal deputy assistant secretary of the department’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs.
“This includes Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other U.S. Indo-Pacific locations,” he wrote in response to Rep. Ed Case’s May 13 letter inquiring about the compass of NATO’s role, if any, in the Pacific region.
Not so fast.
"Guam and the other islands are not protected by NATO’s Article V. If the territories and island nations were attacked, there would be no requirement for NATO to respond," David Santoro, president and CEO of the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum think tank, said in an email to the Pacific Island Times.
Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty pledges the alliance’s collective response if a NATO ally is under attack. However, Article VI of the pact sets geographical restrictions on Article V, which applies only to members' territories in Europe, North America, Turkey and islands in the Atlantic north of the Tropic of Cancer.
Also likely to be left out cold are the U.S.-affiliated Pacific island states including Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. While the U.S. considers them part of homeland defense, these island states sit on the treaty's periphery.
Case is concerned that the treaty “does not explicitly extend its protections to U.S. states, territories and possessions in the Indo-Pacific.”
Hawaii and Guam are at the core of the U.S. military’s power posture in the Indo-Pacific region to neutralize China’s growing military power and North Korea's aggressive behavior. While the strategy focuses on deterrence, critics fear that the military buildup makes these locations magnets for attacks.
Laidlaw acknowledged that the geographical scope of Article VI “does not reflect changes to individual allied territories since the founding of NATO.”
He is not optimistic the alliance would reach a consensus on amending the treaty to cover Hawaii and U.S. territories outside the North Atlantic area considering that the U.S. is not the only member-nation with a territory outside the defined treaty area.
Santoro agreed. "I believe there should be a change but I don’t know that it is likely to be enacted," he said.
Case decried the "historical anachronism” of the Pacific areas' exclusion from the treaty. “There is a reasonable level of concern that at least some of our NATO allies might not consider Article V invoked if we are attacked in the Indo-Pacific," the congressman from Hawaii said.
Laidlaw said the stumbling block can be discussed through Article IV, which allows members to bring security-related concerns to the North Atlantic Council
“While I appreciate the Department of State’s response, it is clear more needs to be done on this issue. These assurances are helpful while we continue to pursue possible next steps, including communication directly with NATO and legislative action,” Case said.
At the recently concluded NATO Summit hosted by President Biden in Washington D.C., the alliance reinforced its "iron-clad commitment to Article 5 and defending every inch of allied territory." Laidlaw said.
In a summit declaration, the alliance agreed to meet with Australia, Japan, New Zealand. the Republic of Korea, and the European Union "to discuss common security challenges and areas of cooperation."
"The Indo-Pacific is important for NATO, given that developments in that region directly affect Euro-Atlantic security," the declaration states."
"We have seen in recent years how threats that emanate from the Indo-Pacific, like the DPRK’s provision of ballistic missiles and munitions for Russia’s use against Ukraine and the PRC’s support for Russia, directly affect Euro-Atlantic security," he wrote in a letter to Case.
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