Tiny Montenegro on track to join NATO

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Blink, and you might miss the armed forces of Montenegro.

With about 2,000 servicemembers, little armor and a navy of old frigates, the tiny Balkan country seems an unlikely candidate to bolster the world’s most powerful military alliance.

Yet with help from the U.S. and a small deployment to Afghanistan, Montenegro is knocking on NATO’s door. Delegates at the alliance’s Chicago summit last month applauded the country’s progress and encouraged it to continue on the right path.

How can such a tiny force contribute to NATO and what does the alliance gain from investing in such countries with seemingly little to offer?

Montenegro’s bid is less about military might than building alliances and encouraging stability, experts say.