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Nato has had its day

During the Cold War, NATO was a cohesive alliance which played a vital role in deterring Soviet aggression and uniting the West. Now though, the old certainties have gone, and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and the crisis which followed the 2008 Russia-Georgia war have each exposed deep political divisions in the alliance. With its "open door" policy towards the new democracies of Eastern Europe a continual source of antagonism for Moscow, many feel that Nato has overreached itself.

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