[1-more]

> Is this how our allies think?

The old quip about NATO is that its purpose was to keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down. I don't know how much that really reflected elite sentiment or not.

EDIT: well it was coined by the first Secretary General of NATO so make of that what you will https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hastings_Ismay

[dotancohen]

Interestingly, I see now that the Wikipedia article mentions that this famous quip was made three years before he was Secretary General.

Did NATO not have a Secretary General for the first three years? And what does that say of the organization that elected the guy who said this as their first SG?