The Case for Dissolving NATO: A Cold War Relic Now Fueling Global Instability

Volodymyr Zelensky’s push for NATO guarantees—or outright NATO intervention in Ukraine—brings the alliance’s fundamental problems into sharp focus. Both paths risk dragging the world straight into World War III, yet they also expose how NATO itself has become a destabilizing force. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 to deter Soviet aggression and secure Western Europe, but the world it was built for no longer exists. Instead of disbanding after achieving its purpose with the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, NATO expanded recklessly, transforming from a defensive coalition into a liability that now threatens global security.

With Article 5 serving as a blank check for U.S. military intervention, NATO’s expansionist ambitions have drawn the West into conflicts that otherwise might have been avoided. The alliance’s presence now spans 32 nations instead of the original 12, entangling the United States in obligations to defend distant countries with little strategic value. Far from guaranteeing peace, NATO’s continued existence has made war—possibly even a global war—more likely. It is time to recognize this reality and move toward dissolution or radical restructuring before it is too late.

NATO Mission Ended in 1991

When NATO was established, its purpose was straightforward: to counterbalance Soviet influence in Europe. The alliance was based on a simple premise—mutual defense under Article 5, which dictated that an attack on one member was an attack on all. This collective security arrangement functioned as a deterrent against Soviet aggression, ensuring that any attack on Western Europe would provoke a full-scale response from the United States and its allies.

But in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. The ideological and military threat that had justified NATO’s creation no longer existed. This should have marked the alliance’s natural endpoint. Instead, NATO embarked on a campaign of expansion that defied the very agreements made with Soviet leaders.

In 1990, during negotiations over German reunification, Western leaders assured Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand eastward. This verbal promise was a key factor in Moscow’s agreement to allow Germany to unify under Western influence. Yet within a decade, NATO had absorbed former Warsaw Pact nations, bringing Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into the fold in 1999. This was only the beginning. By 2004, NATO had expanded further, incorporating Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia—directly encroaching on Russia’s borders. Then, in 2008, President George W. Bush crossed what Bill Burns—Joe Biden’s future CIA chief—called “the brightest of all red lines” for the Kremlin. During the Bucharest declaration, Bush announced, “We agreed today that these countries will become members of NATO,” extending the promise of NATO entry to Georgia and Ukraine. NATO continued its expansion by admitting Albania and Croatia in 2009, Montenegro in 2017, North Macedonia in 2020, and most recently, Finland and Sweden in 2023.

Each new member state became a potential flashpoint for conflict, increasing the likelihood of a NATO-Russia confrontation.