In Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the shipwrecked character Trinculo muses that “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”

The same might be said of politics, as evidenced by a joint defense agreement entered into among Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye on August 7th.

In the midst of growing tensions in the Middle East and Europe, recent alliances have begun forming that would have been inconceivable a few years ago. But this one, known as the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, is particularly notable for the inclusion of NATO member Türkiye, which has managed to plant itself firmly on the fence between East and West for some time.

And what was especially interesting was one stipulation — eerily reminiscent of the language of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty — stating that:

“ . . . any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all.”

[Source: David Khattak, RFE/RL, August 7, 2026]

Another mini-NATO? Strange bedfellows, indeed.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/10/26