Welcome to NATO, Finland and Sweden

Welcome to NATO, Finland and Sweden
Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde (R), and Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (L) attend a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, after signing their countries' accession protocols at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels on July 5, 2022. Yves Herman/Reuters
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Commentary

There is a phenomenon in social sciences called the “law of unintended consequences.” Basically, this is when the outcome of a purposeful action is unexpected or unforeseen. In other words, someone does A expecting B, but instead gets C. Unintended consequences can be positive—such as when the IRS sends you a tax refund that you hadn’t anticipated—but usually, they are negative.

Richard A. Bitzinger
Richard A. Bitzinger
Author
Richard A. Bitzinger is an independent international security analyst. He was previously a senior fellow with the Military Transformations Program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, and he has held jobs in the U.S. government and at various think tanks. His research focuses on security and defense issues relating to the Asia-Pacific region, including the rise of China as a military power, and military modernization and arms proliferation in the region.
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