‘Major non-NATO ally’: What does Biden’s new Kenya pledge mean?

Here’s more about the non-NATO ally designation, promised to Kenya during President Ruto’s Washington visit.

United States President Joe Biden pledged to designate Kenya as a major non-NATO ally on Thursday, which will make Kenya the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to hold the designation. This was during Kenyan President William Ruto’s three-day visit to the US.

Biden described the decision as “a fulfilment of years of collaboration”.

“Our joint counterterrorism operations have degraded ISIS [ISIL] and al-Shabab across East Africa, our mutual support for Ukraine has rallied the world to stand behind the UN Charter, and our work together on Haiti is helping pave the way to reduce instability and insecurity,” Biden told a news conference at the White House on Thursday.

But what does a major non-NATO ally status mean?

A major non-NATO ally (MNNA) refers to a country that is not part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), yet has a deep strategic and security partnership with the US.