July 1997
Nato Expansion:
Farsighted Move or Fatal Error?
When President Clinton and European heads of state attended the June 8-9, 1997 NATO summit in Madrid, most observers assumed that there would be little opposition to NATO expansion except from Russia. But on June 27, a bipartisan group of 20 Senators wrote a letter to the President raising questions and calling for more debate. The day before, more than 40 lawmakers, cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, and foreign affairs experts organized by Susan Eisenhower -- granddaughter of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, NATO's first commander -- denounced NATO enlargement as "a policy error of historic proportions [that is] neither necessary nor desirable." Most were strong supporters of NATO but all opposed its expansion. They argued that expansion would undermine the alliance's effectiveness, re-divide Europe, trigger Russian rearmament, and burden American taxpayers and soldiers with excessive costs and obligations.
The Mainstream Media Project enlisted 12 of these 40 distinguished individuals to address the costs and consequences of NATO enlargement in radio interviews. We secured nearly 50 interviews in three weeks, almost all on nationally and internationally syndicated programs.
Guest Speakers
David Cortright, Director, Fourth Freedom Forum
Jonathan Dean, Former Ambassador; Senior Advisor, Union of Concerned Scientists
Susan Eisenhower, Chair, Center for Political and Strategic Studies
Morton Halperin, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
William Hartung, Director, Project on the Control of the International Arms Trade, World Policy Institute
Fred C. Ikle, Former Under-Secretary of Defense
Edward Luttwak, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Michael Mandelbaum, Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Jack F. Matlock, Jr., Former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union
Jack Mendelsohn, Deputy Director, Arms Control Association
Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA), Former Senator; Former Chair, Senate Armed Services Committee
John Steinbruner, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
