Ed Krayewski on This Weekend's NATO Summit in Chicago

The NATO summit set to start Sunday in Chicago will be the first such gathering in the United States since the alliance met in Washington for its 50th anniversary in 1999. Atop the agenda this weekend will be Afghanistan, where America is embroiled in its eleventh year of war. Lip service to austerity, in the form of "smart defense" and "burden sharing," will also be given at the summit, which is expected to cost the city of Chicago about $55 million. Just don't expect NATO officials to do any soul-searching while they're in town. Instead, writes Ed Krayewski, the summit will be heavy on self-aggrandizement and feature plenty of flimsy justifications for future "humanitarian interventions."