“Muslim NATO”? Not Yet — But Mecca Just Changed the Game for Washington
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and nuclear-armed Pakistan have signed a collective-defence agreement in Mecca whose central principle inevitably evokes NATO’s Article 5: an armed attack against one is to be treated as an attack against all. There is no integrated command, no NATO-style military headquarters and no fully unified fighting force — at least not yet. But something potentially more consequential has happened: three of the Muslim world’s most powerful states have begun building a security architecture that does not depend exclusively on Washington.
“Muslim NATO”? Not Yet — But Mecca Just Changed the Game for Washington