From Alabama to Kosovo: Contributing to NATO’s Peacekeeping mission
Posted On October 16, 2024
There’s been a lot of discussion in political circles recently about NATO and whether it’s beneficial for the United States to maintain its place within the treaty organization.
Our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” is intimately familiar with NATO, how it operates, and the importance of its mission. Ron McBay is lawyer who is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Alabama Army National Guard who recently served as the Deputy Chief Legal Advisor to the NATO peacekeeping force in Kosovo, commonly known as KFOR.
His job was to provide training to soldiers from countries such as Armenia who went to Kosovo to serve as peacekeepers. This included training in NATO rules of engagement, human rights laws, aspects of the Geneva Convention and more.
“The more training they can have going into that, the more likely they’re going to make good decisions and not create an international incident,” he said. “The goal is to create an environment in the Armenian army that’s respectful of international law.”
The job of a peacekeeper is as the name implies – to keep the peace in volatile regions – and their role serves to help stabilize those areas. Not all of the peacekeepers are from NATO countries, however – some are from countries that contribute forces with aspirations of one day becoming a NATO member, and some contribute forces for other reasons.
In order to become a NATO member, McBay said, countries must agree to spend 2 percent of their GDP on national defense, and must agree to the terms of the NATO treaty – including Article 5, which states than an attack on one member is to be treated as an attack on all members.
McBay said this article has been invoked only once – on behalf of the United States after the 9/11 attack.
While the importance of NATO has become the subject of political debate – particularly in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the desire of Ukraine to become a NATO member — McBay said American involvement in NATO is as important as ever.
“Our alliance with NATO is vital to our national defense strategy,” he said.