>>21881630James Baker, as the U.S. Secretary of State at the time, did not possess unilateral authority to make binding commitments on behalf of NATO as an organization. NATO decisions and policies require consensus among all member states, as it operates on a collective agreement basis. Therefore, Baker’s statement during the February 9, 1990, meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev represented a bilateral discussion rather than a formally endorsed NATO policy.
For such a commitment — like guaranteeing that NATO would not expand "one inch to the east" — to become binding, it would have needed to be formalized through NATO's decision-making mechanisms. This would involve discussions and agreements among the representatives of all member nations and likely ratification through national governments or parliaments.
Moreover, Baker's statement was made in the context of negotiations over the reunification of Germany, a complex issue that involved multiple stakeholders, including NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and individual nations. Without a multilateral treaty or a written agreement endorsed by NATO's governing bodies, any assurances given in a diplomatic setting could not be considered a formal, enforceable NATO commitment.
