German Political Scientist: NATO Split Means Nothing to the USA

Nato's split means nothing to the USA, said famous German political analyst Alexander Rahr in a RIA Novosti interview. Rahr is the programme director of the German Council on Foreign Relations (Berlin).

In his words, "the US feels powerful and strong enough to have its own way." This is the more true since the Americans are enjoying quite a broad support in Europe, even without Germany and France.

The political analyst is sure the recent Nato split over Iraq is of huge importance for the Alliance. "This conflict is yet another nail in the coffin of Nato," he stressed. Europe is well aware the political fight is not waged for the sake of Iraq but for the purpose of preserving the current world order," he remarked.

According to Rahr, no European nation is going to defend Hussein. They all fear the US may strike Iraq, then Iran and North Korea, and then some other country, thereby pursuing its own and ignoring European interests. Correspondingly, the armies of the US's European allies in Nato will have to defend the US interests. The political expert continued, France and Germany's neighbours think Berlin and Paris are misleading Europe towards isolation. As a result, he stressed, the complicated concept of European unity is gradually collapsing, and Nato is turning into a political club unable to come to a unanimous decision," and this was demonstrated this week.