A for Atlantic or A for Anywhere?

From Japan Today-

WASHINGTON — U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Tuesday that President George W Bush will propose at the upcoming NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, a program to bring Japan, South Korea and Australia closer to the military alliance.

The three countries "do not seek NATO membership, but we seek a partnership with them so that we can train more intensively from a military point of view," he said. Japan, South Korea and Australia have all deployed troops in Iraq as members of the "coalition of the willing," Burns stressed. Japan has been seeking closer ties with NATO, with Foreign Minister Taro Aso having expressed Tokyo's willingness to strengthen coordination in his speech at a meeting of senior NATO officials in Brussels in May.

I have no objection to these countries partnering with NATO. Though I do think the organization is going far beyond any boundaries not just those when NATO was created but newer ones that formed since the end of the Cold War. Is the organization to be remain Western oriented or to encompass interests and security world-wide? If the later, what will be the grounds for inviting further members? It will be interesting to see where NATO goes in the next 20 years.

Hat tip- GI in Korea
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