North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO is not nearly as interesting as you'd think. If I thought the EU was less-than-exciting, NATO certainly beat out the EU by a long shot.


We met a little before 9am to catch the bus out of town to the NATO headquarters. Pulling up just outside, we were greeted by a giant building of concrete in the distance surrounded by a wrought-iron fence topped with barbed wire. Not exactly the most welcoming of institutions.

It took us a full 10 minutes to get through security; most of that was waiting outside the gate aimlessly. We needed our physical passports just to have our names checked, we weren't allowed cameras (except intern Jim, who was allowed his camera thanks to his handy dandy press pass), phones, etc. We passed through a metal detector and retrieved our bags sans the above listed items. While that doesn't seem to have taken long, there were 12 of us total and the guards spoke limited English...and the people at the front of the line were unfortunately those who hadn't been to NATO before.

Regardless, we made it inside only to be met by a flustered woman and a tall American man who both looked a bit surprised to see us. The woman muttered something about going to call security again and left. The man, however, explained that due to some miscommunication on his part, he hadn't expected us until that afternoon and our second speaker (after himself) was booked for the afternoon, not the morning. Nevertheless, he showed us to our room where we joined a group of students on a month-long whirlwind European study abroad trip from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and from James Madison University in Virginia.

They "offered" us coffee--which means they offered us directions to their cafeteria where we could buy our own--and seven or eight of our group took full advantage of the cheap espresso to sit around and talk about all sorts of things. After a good 15 minutes, however, we realized we probably should have headed back to the room a while before. Rushing into the room and disturbing the first slide of the presentation, thereby missing his name as well, we hurriedly grabbed notepads and pens to learn about...well, everything you learned about NATO in high school, really.

I'm not trying to condemn the organization by any means. Parts of it are quite impressive and politically, I understand a lot of why it acts the way it does. Twenty-eight member states coming to unanimous consensus can't be easy, and the way former ambassadors et al. have infiltrated the US Department of Defense to provide firsthand NATO opinion on defense matters is brilliant. I learned that the Italians are the best police force and train new forces the world over. German and Polish troops in Afghanistan prevent equal numbers of American troops to be filling their places. It's an intricately organized system and I'm actually surprised by how well it does work. Oh, and that giant conference room where NATO hosts its summit and all the members sit at a round table to discuss world issues? You're not allowed in, even when it's empty. In fact, most staff aren't even allowed in. But you're allowed to look at pictures...


We waited around for half an hour [did you know NATO offers free outgoing calls to anywhere in the world?] for our second speaker to show up. Turns out we didn't get a replacement, the original second speaker drove in for us. I really liked him, too.

He's an assistant to the Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer from the Netherlands. American himself, he grew up in southern Illinois and is a Cardinals fan. Why did I include that? No idea, really. I greatly dislike baseball. Touch of the US in a concrete building with barbed wire fences, I suppose. And the only reasong I keep referring to him as "he" is because the most I know about him is his first name is Paul.

He was very knowledgeable and very casual--much like the rest of Belgium. It seemed as though he was quite used to talking to groups of people, which I'm sure he is, and to youth in particular, which may not actually be the case.

I reiterate, NATO was supremely unimpressive. I expected it to be much more along the lines of the European Union in the way of design (though probably confined to one or two main buildings) and certainly more interesting. Maybe I'm just fascinated by European affairs more than I am about the fact that the US spends a ridiculous percentage of its GDP on military and defense, which is why we have the best army in the world. That's what I learned from NATO. The US has a fantastic military and that's why they're in charge of the non-member operations throughout the world. Practical, but not something I'd like to be known for.

Oh and that rule about no cameras allowed? Somehow the Bloomsburg/JMadison kids' professor had brought one in (no idea how. HE didn't have a nifty press pass...). Jim decided it was a good time to get a group picture of all the Mizzou kids in front of the NATO wall/banner. If I get a copy of that picture, I'll add it here.

We got on the bus (after losing Tom the Australian intern, who in turn had lost his watch. Turns out the security guards had placed it in his bag so it wouldn't get lost and didn't tell him. Therefore he had it on him the entire time) to return to Place Schuman, where Nicole and Brandon and I then headed out to Tevuren to see la Musée Royale d'Afrique Centrale. I had been told it was a museum that contained all the items plundered from the Congo while Belgium was in its colonial frenzy under the rule of King Léopold II.


Well, the museum wasn't exactly filled with gold and diamonds and the like; that business was stationed in Antwerp/Anvers--interesting place for a diamond capitol in a country that has no mines of its own. This was truly a museum of Congolese, Rwandan, Burundian, etc. artifacts. Traditional items like spears and masks as well as artistic ones. Furthermore, since Belgium sent its explorers down to chart out and document the Kongo, which spread across the entirety of central Africa, there were entire galleries devoted to the African wildlife, some of which I got a huge kick out of, and more of which I'd never heard of before. Surprising!

Having literally just finished The Poisonwood Bible last night, I was so ready for this museum. I can chant back the history of the Congo, the overthrow of power, the succession of rulers, religious items like the nkisi, and a lot more. Interestingly enough, as much as I love Google, I'd never gone to look up a picture of Patrice Lumumba, the original leader of independent Congo in 1960.


Best part of the display? The gray squirrel. Dad, that's for you.


I finished my tour of the museum and went out to the absolutely gorgeous grounds. The museum had a lot of land, something I want to look into. The entire place looks like a former private residence. It had finally reached that 70 degree high, with partial-sunlight (the best you can hope for in grisly Brussels) and so a short walk around the central pond was all I could really afford, plus I had no idea what time it was and probably needed to get home.


I got back to the room hours after Brandon and Nicole left the museum because I was reading absolutely everything. Eighty percent of the signs were only in French and Dutch, so it was a lot of translating, meaning neither of them were able to glean much from the signs. So they wrapped things up a lot quicker than I did.

It's difficult to say how much I learned from this museum. It was a lot to take in and I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in Central Africa or Belgian history. Monday in class I asked Stijn what the Belgians thought of Léopold II (who was essentially solely responsible for mass genocide and/or mutilations of the Congolese; war crimes by todays standards). There are statues of this king all over town; streets, parks, and squares named after him; references to him in newspapers and books; and, while not revered, a respectful attitude toward him at all times. For me, that's something I wouldn't be able to reconcile. Apparently the Belgians just don't care, as with everything else. He was hugely controversial during and shortly after his rule and again when Hochschild published his book King Leopold's Ghosts recently, but the clamor dies down in this country rather quickly. People like to resume their normal lives.

Riding the tram back to the metro station, I decided what that experience is like. It's exactly like riding the Screamin' Eagle at Six Flags St. Louis .... at 1/3 the speed. Everything is bumpy and you can just feel the rusted tracks beneath you. The tram screeches to a halt at each stop and groans when people get on and off. Someone needs to look into some serious maintenance. Otherwise the ride was really pleasant. The tracks take you both on some major roads, along side streets, and through forested areas where you can't see any sign of civilization even if you're squinting to catch a glimpse through the leaves.

Summary of today: NATO is severely unsatisfying; the African Museum is a must-see, but don't expect riches and wealth while there--Africa has a different kind of wealth; Brussels needs tram-work, but every city should have convenient public transportation. I'm looking at you, St. Louis.