From the Venetians and Ottomans to NATO

On one of our last excursions we had to opportunity to visit a number of military installations that are in Souda Bay right by Chania. With the closest thing being the UN buffer zone visit, I have never been to a military base or installation in my entire life. Upon entering the US installation within the Greek Air Force base, we were greeted to the roar of jets taking off only a couple hundred meters from us. Throughout the day we were to meet many interesting military personnel and we learned all the different purposes and occupants the various installations had. The first tour with the American commander illustrated the importance of America's presence on Crete was as far as being able to deliver important logistical needs in the strategic region. He also explained how historically civilizations that have commanded the island have been dominant regional actors. Next we went to a missile firing site that tested drone equipment and missilry. The NAMFI site was under NATO and was a cooperative project amongst three member states (Germany, Greece, and the Netherlands). We were shown the operational rooms and where the ordinance was tested. Finally we went to a training facility where personal under the guidance of Greek commandos provide classes and operational modules for personnel to deal with maritime issues. Some of the operations they train these soldiers and law enforcement for have to deal with drug seizures and other maritime crime activity. The people at the institute worked amongst many other NATO allies and offered training to other entities as far away as Singapore and Senegal. What struck me about this particular visit was just how deep these intergovernmental organizations have become in their operations. It also showed cooperation and collective action at play where all these states larger or smaller, developing or modern, more powerful or weaker came together to learn common strategies and tactics to combat destabilizing factors such as crime that in recent years have been amongst the many issues that have been causing insecurity in the region. What this experience has taught me that collective security can be a viable thing and that for too long we have seen international institutions in this narrow view as being centered on very specific objectives and disputing into irrelevance. I told the commander there that until that day I very much viewed NATO as a simply an agent to contain Russia. However leaving there I see that the institution does serve an essential role in bringing member states and their partners on equal footing so that other forms of security threats can be neutralized better ensuring order in the chaotic international system that has been bred in the past few decades. Also the cooperation amongst the various nationalities at these installations was telling. It affirmed my belief that even as a hegemon, the United States needs to engage with these states and foster positive relationships. Partnerships can work amongst these different states and in the end it is beneficial to out nation to have this cooperation to guarantee a secure world.