Leaders | NATO at 75

How to Trump-proof America’s alliances

An essential step will be to let Ukraine into NATO

A knife cutting a NATO cake with a seventy-five candle on it
Illustration: Ricardo Tomás

Nato’s leaders gather in Washington on July 9th-11th to celebrate “the greatest military alliance in the history of the world”, as President Joe Biden calls it. He is right. NATO has helped keep the peace in Europe for 75 years, a stunning achievement after the continent’s centuries of war. Its “Article 5” guarantee—that an attack on one member is an attack on all—has deterred first the Soviet Union and then Russia. NATO has also been a forum for resolving tensions between its members. Small wonder nervous nations clamour to become part of it. Membership has risen from 12 in 1949 to 32 now, with Sweden joining in April and Finland last year.

Explore more

From the July 6th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Leaders

This illustration symbolises the technological competition between China and the United States. It features elements of both nations' flags, with an upward green arrow on China's side and a downward red arrow on the U.S. side. The background includes  AI s

The real meaning of the DeepSeek drama

The Chinese model-maker has panicked investors. But it is good for the users of AI

DRCONGO-UNREST

Rwanda does a Putin in Congo

To understand the seizure of Goma, consider a parallel with Ukraine


Keir Starmer surrounded by the Eu stars

Sir Keir Starmer should aim higher in his reset with the EU

And he needs to be clearer about what Britain wants


To make electricity cheaper and greener, connect the world’s grids

Less than 3% of the world’s power is internationally traded—a huge wasted opportunity

Chinese AI is catching up, posing a dilemma for Donald Trump

The success of DeepSeek and other Chinese modelmakers threatens America’s lead 

America has an imperial presidency

And in Donald Trump, an imperialist president for the first time in over a century