Monday April 5th U.S. Army Capt. Sean M. Minton addressed the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs. Sean is a Rotary Scholar, is currently stationed at Fort Steward near Savannah, but has recently spent much of his time abroad. Sean presented a brief overview of the whirlwind events of his last year of studies.

Sean’s area of study is International Peace and Conflict which is part of the War Studies Department of Kings College in London.

Sean has spent a major portion of his studies concentrating on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He sees NATO (and the thirty countries it currently includes) as a pivotal component of international peace. He says, “If NATO breaks down, it will be a sign that international order is breaking down.”

Wanting to know what makes NATO tick, he resolved to look deeper into the sociological institutionalism of the alliance. He chose three major events to focus his attention.

The first was the 2007 Estonia cyber-attack – more information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Amesbury_poisonings
The second was the 2018: Salisbury novichok poisonings – more information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Amesbury_poisonings
And the third was the 2019: Turkey-Russia missile deal – more information here: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48962885

He built a case study around each event that would offer him a broad perspective and insight. He hoped to gain a fuller understanding of the NATO Alliance. Looking closely at the responses of NATO to these events helped him to understand how it functions. In short, Sean concluded that NATO is an institution made up of people which are shaped by our environment. When he speaks of the environment, he means the threats to peace and order. He asserts that NATO can exert a powerful influence in a push-pull relationship with the environment and, in a sense, be like the military arm of international order. Put simply, NATO's essential and enduring purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of all its members by political and military means. Collective defense is at the heart of the Alliance and creates a spirit of solidarity and cohesion among its members.

In the photo from left to right: John Neill - 2020-2021 President of the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs, U.S. Army Capt Sean Minton, Sean's wife Caitlyn Minton, Jim Squire - Immediate past district 6900 Governor.

The Rotary Club of Sandy Springs would like to thank Capt. Sean Minton for his service to our nation as well as his drive to find a better peace between nations and people.

A little more biographical information about Capt. Sean Minton can be found here: https://sandyspringsrotary.org/newsletter/show/1405
Still more biographical information can be found here: https://www.meriwetherrotary.org/story/4641

More information about Rotary Scholarships can be found here: https://www.rotary.org/en/our-programs/scholarships