Toward Equilibrium

The North Atlantic Alliance is a coalition, not a federation; its Supreme Commander Ike Eisenhower can only beg, he cannot compel. How much should each of the twelve partners contribute to the common defense?

Because the military experts of SHAPE and the politicians of the various nations could not get together on an answer at the North Atlantic Council session in Ottawa last September, the U.S.'s W. Averell Harriman, France's Jean Monnet and Britain's Sir Edward Plowden were chosen to allocate fair shares for all. Last week the Three Wise Men, as their NATO colleagues have dubbed them, made their recommendations to the Temporary Council Committee (the Twelve Apostles), on which all NATO members are represented. Gist of the Wise Men's report: P:I The U.S., Britain, Portugal and Iceland (which has no army) have budgeted a "satisfactory" expenditure for defense. P: The other NATO allies can do better. Specifically, Belgium ought to spend 50% more and Denmark 40% more; these two countries have the highest standard of living in Europe, but are not contributing a proportionate share of their national income to defense. France, The Netherlands, Norway, Italy and Canada should raise their defense outlay by about 5%.

Actually, the Wise Men are asking only about $800 million more from all the European allies--not enough to equip and . maintain one division, with air support, through 1952-54. And the U.S. is really paying about 90% of the entire bill. Nevertheless, the air was thick with outcries. Most indignant were the Belgians, who cried that their high standard of living and control over inflation stems from sound monetary policy, for which the Wise Men now propose to penalize them. The Italians said they just couldn't afford more arms, because the Po floods had inundated them with unforeseen costs. The French grumbled that their Parliament was in a tax-cutting mood.

Some of these cries are the kind that diplomats, like traders in a bazaar, make in the first stage of negotiations; what matters is their final stand at Lisbon in February. But Eisenhower took no chances. For an hour and a half, he addressed the Twelve Apostles, arguing that they adopt the Wise Men's program as the only hope of establishing military "equilibrium" with Russia within twelve months.

"Without a plan of this sort," said Ike, "we'll never achieve the serenity and confidence to which Western Europe and the rest of us are entitled."

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