I'm not convinced an alliance with a super power in an increasingly multipolar world will reduce the risk of war. I also think it will lead to a reduced ability for territorial defense as there will be pressure to fill a certain role within the alliance with a focus on expensive weapons systems. I'm also worried about how it will affect our ability for independent foreign policy and relations. I still remember the willingness of our government at the time to join the War on Terror. It took a lot of public pressure and people in the streets to get them to back off (which they never fully did, but at least went through the UN). I'm not sure protests would have worked if we were NATO members. Like other countries we've also been sending weapons and aid to Ukraine, but what if NATO or the US decided that Ukraine shouldn't get weapons?

Ironically, what on a personal level feels like the strongest argument against joining NATO now seems to be what could actually stop it from happening. I have Kurdish friends who had to go into hiding to avoid deportation to Turkey because the security police considers them a security threat, without presenting any evidence for this claim. Turkey spies on the diaspora, threatens and carries out assassinations of political enemies on foreign soil. Turkey under Erdogan doesn't seem like a regime I'd want my country to be associated with or allied to, and Erdogan seems to agree.