WASHINGTON—Two years ago, worries mounted inside NATO about how much the Alliance would still matter after it wound down its mission in Afghanistan. In the months leading up to last year’s NATO summit in Wales, U.S. officials grappled with how to make the Alliance seem relevant. The twin crises to NATO’s east (Ukraine) and south (North African instability) put those existential concerns to rest, and today the discussion about NATO’s future has changed dramatically. Now everyone recognizes NATO’s indispensability, but worry whether it will be able to step up to today’s challenges.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter spent last week in …read more