April 02, 2019
NATO Needs Solidarity for Its 70th Birthday
NATO marks its 70th anniversary this week—a remarkable milestone for a military alliance made up of 29 (soon to be 30) separate member states. But the big commemoration, scheduled for April 3 and 4 in Washington, has faced trouble from the start.
Given U.S. President Donald Trump’s past behavior at NATO gatherings (last year, he called allies “delinquent”), the alliance wasn’t even sure hosting an anniversary summit was a good idea. Last fall, it wisely downgraded the event to the foreign minister level. No Trump, no drama, the thinking went. Unfortunately, even without Trump, the gathering is shaping up to be anything but a celebration. As policymakers in NATO capitals draft flowery speeches for their ministers, and caterers in Washington place their orders for just the right vintage of champagne, allies are making a series of decisions that are rapidly eroding alliance unity. Too few members today—the United States included—see a need to prioritize NATO solidarity. That’s weakening members’ collective hand against the alliance’s adversaries and casting a dark shadow over the 70th anniversary.
Read the full article in Foreign Policy.
More from CNAS
-
How Russia Could Exploit a Vacuum in Europe
Putin would assume that with a smaller U.S. presence in Europe, the West would be forced to favor de-escalation, creating an environment the Kremlin would view as exceptionall...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend & Kate Johnston
-
What a Stronger Europe Means for America
A more capable Europe will also mean a more independent Europe, more willing to defy U.S. priorities and make demands for cooperation. Wallander has been a key player in the t...
By Celeste Wallander
-
Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast [Washington Roundtable Jun 27, ’25]
On this week’s Defense & Aerospace Report Washington Roundtable, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, joins Defense & Aerospace...
By Jim Townsend
-
Why We Should Worry About Nuclear Weapons Again
Today’s global nuclear landscape is far more complicated and, in many ways, more precarious....
By Jon B. Wolfsthal