Because in a quirk of geography and history, Hawaii is not technically covered by the NATO pact.
Mengshin Lin/AP“People tend to assume Hawaii is part of the US and therefore it’s covered by NATO,” he says.
The exception is spelled out in the Washington Treaty, the document that established NATO in 1949, a decade before Hawaii became a state.
It also says any island territories must be in the North Atlantic, north of the Tropic of Cancer.
Hawaii, Guam, Taiwan and North KoreaSome experts say times have changed in the decades since the Washington Treaty was signed – and argue today’s political situation in the Indo-Pacific might require a rethink.
Persons:
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Organizations:
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Locations:
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