We are in a season of terror attacks, and the odds are high they will increase over the short term. The principle drivers will be the so-called Islamic State and its various affiliates, as well as the still-dangerous al Qaeda, which is wounded but still capable of launching attacks. Worst of all, we are likely to see more of the “inspired” attacks by self-radicalized terrorists in both the United States and Europe. Given the potential for such attacks to increase in numbers and scale, NATO has a fundamental responsibility to address terror attacks and a powerful toolbox with which to do so.
Most fundamentally, NATO stands for its values: democracy, liberty, freedom of speech, human rights, and other basic tenets of western tradition. The most powerful tool the U.S. holds, over the long term, is our adherence to what makes us true to those values. Thus, we must reject calls for torture (including water-boarding), excessive surveillance regimes that violate norms of privacy, unwarranted detention, and artificially streamlined justice systems. As tempting as it is to call for such measures in the face of barbaric actions from terrorists, we have to hold on to our values, and a value-based organization like NATO helps us do so.
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