NATO Exclusion Leaves Hawaii in 'Gray' Zone in China's Shadow

Hawaii, the only U.S. state still not covered by the collective defense provisions that form the cornerstone of the NATO alliance, is stuck in a "gray area," one senator told Newsweek , as a bipartisan group of lawmakers push President Joe Biden 's administration on the deteriorating security situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the 1949 foundational document of the trans-Atlantic alliance signed 10 years before Hawaii attained statehood, declares that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all. But in setting out the geographical boundaries where that rule applies, Article 6 specifies only attacks on land, forces, vessels or aircraft north of the Tropic of Cancer.

Hawaii and its 1.4 million residents lie south of the Tropic of Cancer, as do the U.S. territories of Guam and Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As such, they are not automatically under the NATO umbrella.

As allies met in Washington, D.C., last week for NATO's annual summit, 12 Republican and Democratic senators—led by Senators Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Eric Schmitt of Missouri—penned a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking him to spearhead a new push to expand Article 6's boundaries. They expressed "the deep concerns about deterring an adversary's attack or treating residents as equals to those in the other 49 states."

"The gravity of the Indo-Pacific threat environment requires that we do more," the senators wrote, noting the looming and intensifying regional threats posed by both China and North Korea .

Both nations have been critical of growing NATO influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Following the NATO summit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters NATO was "a vestige of the Cold War and a product of bloc confrontation and bloc politics."

The Washington summit's communiqué did not mention Hawaii. A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek : "An amendment to the treaty to cover Hawaii and/or other U.S. territory outside the North Atlantic area would be unlikely to gain agreement by consensus within the alliance as the United States is not the only ally with territory outside the treaty area."

The U.S. and its allies, the spokesperson added, are committed to "defending every inch of allied territory, as well as a clear-eyed recognition of the links between Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security."

But for one of the senators leading the new Hawaii push, that's not enough.

"While it's disappointing, it's not surprising that Hawaii was not mentioned in the NATO summit declaration simply because the Biden administration has made clear that securing explicit protection for Hawaii is not their priority," Schmitt told Newsweek .

"Despite this, I'll continue to advocate for Hawaii's inclusion in Article 5, especially with China 's increasingly bellicose actions," he continued. "Our focus is making sure that all 50 states are protected—it's telling that China's ambitions have reached a new level of concern. That only increases the urgency in getting this done.

"There should be no gray area when it comes to whether our NATO allies would come to the aid of the United States if Hawaii was attacked, and amending the [North Atlantic Treaty] to include Hawaii should be a no-brainer for NATO," the senator said.

Hawaii is not defenseless. The archipelago is bristling with American military strength and is home to 44,000 personnel from all armed branches. Hawaii also hosts the Indo-Pacific Command and the Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam . Any attack on the archipelago by an enemy state would almost certainly prompt a fierce U.S. response.

NATO's Article 4 allows any member state to place on the agenda any issue of concern for discussion with fellow allies.

"Any attack on the United States or its territories, even if outside of the geographic scope of Article 5, would almost certainly draw allied reaction, including the consultation procedures under Article 4 of the treaty," the State Department spokesperson said.

"This includes not just Hawaii but also Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and other U.S. Indo-Pacific locations," the spokesperson said.

However, the two senators who wrote to the State Department said this is "an insufficient mechanism." The lawmakers have asked Blinken to respond to their queries as to Hawaii's status and discussions with allies by September 1.

NATO issues have loomed large over the presidential race, which will pit an internationalist statesman, Biden, against a transactionalist "America first" former president, Donald Trump .

The latter's first term brought unprecedented White House attacks—and even a threat to withdraw from the bloc—on NATO allies. Trump has shown no sign of easing his criticism on the campaign trail, even suggesting the U.S. would not protect allies that failed to meet their military spending obligations.

Trump has not mentioned Hawaii's status outside of the Article 6 protections. Newsweek has contacted the former president's campaign via email to request comment.

NATO allies and officials have been hurrying to shore up their own defenses and their collective support for Ukraine ahead of a potential second Trump term. His selection of JD Vance as his vice president has sharpened fears of a possible U.S. pivot away from Europe and Kyiv.

Hawaii's NATO status could prove to be a bargaining chip for America's allies. "This letter's request is right in line with President Trump's larger argument that NATO allies have been happy to take American resources to secure their own borders without committing to securing ours," Schmitt said.

"This would be a way for our European allies to show they're committed to this mutual defense treaty," he added.