Will NATO Deter the Next War—or Prepare for the Last One?

NATO’s greatest achievement has never been measured simply by the military operations it has conducted. It has been measured by the major wars it has helped prevent.

For more than seventy-five years, the Alliance has convinced potential adversaries that aggression against its members would fail. That deterrent has been one of the great strategic successes of the postwar era.

The real question before the governments gathering this week in Ankara is whether they will give NATO the means to ensure that deterrence remains as credible in a rapidly changing strategic world as it has been for the past seventy-five years.

That question matters not only to Europe.

It matters profoundly to Israel.

For more than seven decades, NATO has been far more than a military alliance. It has been the cornerstone of the transatlantic strategic architecture through which American leadership has preserved peace in Europe while helping sustain the broader stability upon which democratic nations—including Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy—have depended.

Israel’s security has never rested solely on its own remarkable military capabilities. It has also benefited from the credibility of a wider Western security order in which the United States, supported by strong democratic allies, has remained the indispensable strategic power.

As they meet in Ankara,........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)