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A comment on The Effects of Finland's Possible NATO Membership (2016) [pdf]. Parent comment

Re:The Effects of Finland's Possible NATO Membership (2016) ... by ghaff on Saturday February 26, 2022 @03:03PM (#30481294)
Because all(?) of the NATO members are representative democracies of some form or other. While obviously certain actions can be a domestic political issue (so in that sense citizens are "consulted"), there's no direct citizen vote on things like alliances, treaties, etc. (or many other actions a national government takes).
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Re:The Effects of Finland's Possible NATO Membership (2016) ... by logifail on Saturday February 26, 2022 @03:15PM (#30481446)
> there's no direct citizen vote on things like alliances, treaties, etc

One could imagine that if your country's citizens will be called upon to go to war to fight to defend a distant "country X", just because your country and "country X" happen to be in an alliance, that citizens informed consent would be desirable and required before signing such a treaty.

Despite what your politicians might say, joining an military alliance has a cost, it's not a freebie.

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