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This is NATO's Casablanca Moment

This is NATO's Casablanca Moment

Vilnius, Lithuania - February 16 2022: Flag of NATO, European Union and Ukraine waving together in the sky

OPINION — In the 1942 Hollywood classic Casablanca, Ingrid Bergman, playing Ilsa Lund famously says, “Play it, Sam.” A little under a year later, the Casablanca Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca. Attending were the leaders of many of the Allied powers including U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The purpose of the conference was to discuss allied war strategy, but it is most famously remembered for the declaration of “unconditional surrender,” a doctrine which reflected the unity, will, confidence and determination of the Allies. The war was far from certain to be won by the Allies.  The battle of Stalingrad was raging as was combat in the Pacific.  The battle of the Atlantic was far from over and most of Europe was still occupied by Nazi Germany.

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