It recently made headlines that NATO is not obligated to defend Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), American Samoa, or other parts of the United States in the Pacific. But that doesn’t leave America alone in its Pacific defense. It has other treaty allies who can pitch in when push comes to shooting. That’s one reason why the first U.S.-Japan-Philippines trilateral meeting in DC this week is so important.

Why No NATO?

But first, what’s up with NATO? Well, one clue is in the name. It’s the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. When the treaty was agreed upon in 1949, several European countries still had colonies scattered around the planet, and the United States wasn’t keen on getting embroiled in a war on behalf of, for example, Portuguese Timor.

Accordingly, Article 6 of the NATO Treaty specified the geographic area of mutual defense as covering the territory of any NATO member in Europe or North America, the Algerian Departments of France, the territory of Turkey, and the islands under the jurisdiction of any NATO member in the North Atlantic north of the Tropic of Cancer.

Hawaii is not considered part of North America, nor are Guam, CNMI, or American Samoa. The U.S. Virgin Islands are south of the Tropic of Cancer, so they aren’t covered by NATO, either.

However, no other NATO members, including the United States, are obligated to defend French Polynesia, the Pitcairn Islands (United Kingdom), or the Caribbean Netherlands.

That’s why, for example, when Argentina attacked Britain’s Falkland possessions in 1982, there was no obligation for the United States to come to its aid.

Who You Gonna Call?

For many years, except for a potential fight on the Korean Peninsula, nobody paid much attention to the idea that the United States might need some real help to defend itself, its interests, and its friends in the Asia-Pacific region.........

© The National Interest