This across-the-board consensus is shared because of all the implications of the war in Afghanistan on regional security in South and Central Asia and on stability in neighboring Pakistan, a dangerously unstable nuclear-armed state. American politicians across the ideological spectrum also recognize the need to avoid the creation of another breeding ground for radical Islam as expressed through organizations like the Taliban, al-Qaida and Hizb ut-Tahrir in a country that is increasingly controlled by guerrillas either from these extremist organizations or extremely sympathetic to them.

In the United States, these are considered major, or at least significant, issues. Allowing Afghanistan to fester and to become chaotic is deemed to be dangerous for world security and against the interest of the United States.

However, the European allies of the United States in their common North Atlantic Treaty Organization appear to think very differently. This can be easily deduced from the failure of any of the 26 European member states of the NATO alliance except Britain to offer U.S. President Barack Obama any combat troops whatsoever to serve in Afghanistan.

The European allies rejected Obama's appeal to them all for such support earlier this month in his first international trip since taking office on Jan. 20. And even Britain, under the leadership of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, was only able or willing to offer 1,000 extra troops in all, including non-combatant military trainers.

There is clearly no major new action by NATO's European member states announced or planned to assist the United States in Afghanistan or to act there as America's partners in any real and meaningful way.

The Obama administration recently announced a significant scale-up of American forces operating in Afghanistan by 21,000 troops to augment the 38,000 already deployed there. However, the rest of NATO's meager contribution to the common effort will not be augmented, at least not significantly. And this is an indicator of how little the Europeans feel threatened by that cauldron of instability in Central Asia.

However, this profound failure in alliance solidarity and credibility was not allowed to stand in the way of the widely publicized celebrations for NATO's 60th anniversary earlier this month. They were held in Baden-Baden and Kehl in Germany and in Strasbourg, France. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, the heads of government of the European countries that were once enemies but have now been friends for many decades, co-hosted the events.

There were speeches and self-congratulatory remarks about this long era of peace in Europe made possible by, among other factors, this resilient North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Indeed, the Atlantic alliance has grown significantly larger since the collapse of communism, having taken in as new members a host of Central and Eastern European countries. The latest member state, Albania, was admitted this year as the 28th country to join the alliance.

Yet it seems safe to say that after the passing of only a few weeks, all these festivities will be forgotten. For in reality, the venerable and revered NATO now lacks any real shared purpose among its increasingly many member states. Sadly, the Atlantic alliance has become almost irrelevant -- just like the old Veterans of the Burma Star who still march regularly in London behind a flag that today, except as a revered relic of a glorious past of the long-defunct British Empire, means absolutely nothing.

(Paolo Liebl von Schirach is the editor of SchirachReport.com, a regular contributor to Swiss radio and an international economic-development expert.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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