Dear Editor:

This week, NATO leaders will meet to discuss the war in Ukraine. Here are six questions I hope they ask:

  1. Should NATO call Putin’s bluff and enter the war militarily?
  2. What should NATO do if Putin uses chemical or nuclear weapons
  3. What should NATO do if North Korea follows Putin’s lead and invades South Korea?
  4. What should NATO do if China invades Taiwan, Hong Kong or the Japanese islands?
  5. What should NATO do if Iran builds the Bomb and threatens to eliminate Israel?
  6. Since the end of the Second World War, the theory of Mutual Assured Destruction has guided much of foreign policy for many nations. But what does M.A.D. mean if the opponent (Putin and his ilk) doesn’t care how many people die? What happens if they’re prepared to roll the dice?

These are questions NATO must ask and answer. But not only NATO because we all live in this One World and, depending upon the answer – will all die in this One World.

Ian Hepburn
Vankleek Hill