How the environment in which NATO is supposed to provide security has changed today can be seen from the fact that the alliance dealt with a classic question of foreign and security policy at its short summit on Monday: the challenge posed by great powers, this one Case of Russia and China.
Ten years ago, the alliance relied on cooperation with Moscow, and the Brussels headquarters were only interested in China's rise in passing.
From a military point of view, the focus was on deployments abroad to stabilize conflict areas, some of which were far away.
This phase is coming to an (inglorious) end in Afghanistan.
A return to the defense of the alliance's territory began a few years ago, and Putin's campaign on the eastern flank left the allies practically no choice.
NATO would have faded as a regulating factor in Europe if it had not reacted to the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbass.
An alliance for Europe and North America
It looks a little different with China.
There is no doubt that Beijing's strategic expansion is increasingly clashing with Western interests;
that is why the G-7 meeting at the weekend dealt with this topic.
But NATO is explicitly an alliance for Europe and North America.
In Asia, where China's rearmament is already a real problem, it doesn't even have members.
She shouldn't overdo herself here, her engagement should primarily be political.
Biden called the alliance commitment in Brussels "sacred".
Not only the Atlanticists in Germany will be happy to hear that;
but it should not be overestimated.
Trump was not a historical accident, he was a vulgar embodiment of a foreign policy reorientation that continues the world power under his successor.
Above all, Germany cannot blindly rely on others to take over our defense in case of doubt. German policy does not harm NATO and certainly not America if it does not meet the two percent target, but our country.