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Rambo or Madonna

NATOs role model – you decide!

Claiming that NATO should be more like “Madonna” is not exactly the kind of talk you’d expect from an expert of international affairs, but that’s exactly what Van Ham is suggesting.

Hamm, an authority on European security and WMD, told guardian.co.uk Nato was currently like, "a band we all look upon with some nostalgia, remembering the good old days, and feeling slightly saddened by its inevitable demise; a band who should have stopped earlier, but has failed to do so because of popular demand. The Rolling Stones come to mind".

"Nato should follow the Madonna-curve, and not wait till its controversies escalate into public wrangles," he adds.

This has clearly caused some dissagreement. Madonna like Nato? How could you suggest such a thing! No, if you’re anything like Robin Shepherd, senior Europe research fellow at the international affairs thinktank Chatham House (no less), then Nato clearly needs to be more like Rambo!

"An ageing pop diva is not an excellent analogy for Nato. What they need is a go-get-the-bad-guys, Rambo-meets-Arnold Schwarzenegger approach," he said.

Er right....