The
NATO summit set to start Sunday in Chicago will be the first such
gathering in the United States since the alliance met in Washington
for its 50th anniversary in 1999. Atop the agenda this weekend will
be Afghanistan, where America is embroiled in its eleventh year of
war. Lip service to austerity, in the form of “smart defense” and
“burden sharing,” will also be given at the summit, which is
expected to cost the city of Chicago about $55 million. Just don’t
expect NATO officials to do any soul-searching while they’re in
town. Instead, writes Ed Krayewski, the summit will be heavy on
self-aggrandizement and feature plenty of flimsy justifications for
future “humanitarian interventions.”