NATO’s Hawaii Blindspot

Hawaii is currently the only U.S. state that isn’t covered by NATO’s Article 5 collective security guarantee. Amid concerns about the security situation in the Pacific Ocean, foreign policy experts have sparked calls for Hawaii to be included in the alliance’s mandate.

Members of the 32-nation NATO military alliance are obligated to come to each other’s defense in the event any one is attacked “in Europe or North America,” but Hawaii is excluded due to its situation in the Pacific Ocean. Speaking to CBS News, John Hemmings, a senior director at the Pacific Forum think tank, said extending this to Hawaii would add “an element of deterrence” that could help stop a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

The calls come amidst diminishing enthusiasm towards NATO from some Republicans. In February, Donald Trump, now the GOP’s presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, said he would “encourage” Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” with alliance members who fell short on guideline financial contributions.

Article 5 of the NATO Treaty says that for alliance members, “an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.” This is further clarified in Article 6 which says it applies to island territories only if they are in Europe or the Atlantic north of the Tropic of Cancer.

There are ongoing fears that China could seize Taiwan, an island of 23 million people that Beijing regards as a renegade province, potentially initiating a conflict with the United States. This could result in strikes on Hawaii, where the U.S. has a major naval base at Pearl Harbor, which at present wouldn’t oblige other NATO members to militarily support the U.S.

Hemmings described the exclusion of Hawaii as an “escape clause” for Beijing, adding: “Why would we not put that element of deterrence at our disposal? Why would we leave that off the table if it would actually stop (China) from an invasion of Taiwan?”

Noting the December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor attack which drew the U.S. into World War II, he said: “This is where Pearl Harbor happened. This is where we were attacked that brought us into the Second World War, and – by the way – this is what also led to us to help liberate France.

“For Americans, there is a direct link between this state and our involvement in the Second World War and ultimately our help in contributing to the victory over the Axis.”

Hemmings also called for Article 5 to cover Guam, an unincorporated U.S. territory around 3,000 miles west of Hawaii. He said: “Strategically, Guam absolutely matters a lot more than Hawaii.”

Speaking to Newsweek, Alan Mendoza, who heads the Henry Jackson Society think tank in London, U.K., agreed extending Article 5 to cover Hawaii could strengthen the western alliance.

He said: “Although NATO was established as a North Atlantic treaty, Hawaii’s exemption was provided before it became an integral part of the U.S.A. as one of the 50 states.

“Given NATO’s expansion to fellow democracies not directly bordering the North Atlantic but connected to it regardless, it would make sense to at least consider the idea of extending NATO to include Hawaii at a time of increased need to show Alliance solidarity.

“With the Free World under renewed threat, all measures that increase ties between free and democratic countries should be encouraged.”

Mendoza said that extending Article 5 to cover Hawaii might lead to similar demands from other NATO members, such as the French islands of Reunion and Mayotte in the Indian Ocean or the British Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.

Newsweek has contacted the Department of State and NATO press office for comment by email and media inquiry form respectively.