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NATO is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a ceremony in Brussels, with its own cake and the founding certificate flown in from Washington. It is important to show strength, especially towards Putin. But cohesion within the alliance no longer seems so secure at the moment.

  • The founding of NATO

    • Harry Truman, former US President: »This treaty is a simple document. The nations that sign it undertake to uphold the peaceful principles of the United Nations. To maintain friendly relations and economic cooperation with one another. To consult together when the territory or independence of one of them is threatened. And to come to the aid of any of them who might be attacked.”

    Ralf Neukirch, DER SPIEGEL: »The purpose of NATO was once to keep the Americans in, to keep the Russians out and to keep the Germans down, in other words: to keep the Americans in Europe. They should continue to take care of European security. To keep the Russians out of it, of course, they shouldn't have access to the countries of Western Europe. And Germany should be involved because there was a fear that a resurgent Germany could again pose a threat to European and world peace. Those were the goals that she pursued back then and which, one must say, she achieved very successfully over the next 50 years.«

  • The Cold War

    • For Western Europe, NATO was existential during the Cold War: as protection against the military superiority of the Soviet Union.

    Ralf Neukirch, DER SPIEGEL: »It was somehow completely clear: conventionally, this would be a real problem if the Soviet Union decided to start a war in Europe. But of course it was also the American nuclear protective shield that was very important at the time for countries like Germany, which had no nuclear weapons at all, but also for countries like France or Great Britain, which had nuclear weapons themselves but were in no way comparable to the Russian arsenal were able to keep up.”

  • The Fall of the Wall

    • With the fall of the Wall and the end of the bipolar world order, NATO began its most difficult phase: its members, together with the Warsaw Pact states, issued a declaration of non-aggression - NATO's basis for existence seemed to have disappeared, the Soviet Union was no longer an enemy.

    Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union: “We are constantly cooperating in all matters shaping the new type of world politics and are united during this transition to a new, peaceful era in history. This is how we fulfill our duty towards other nations.«

    At this point there is hope: the military blocs could become superfluous and Europe could remain permanently peaceful.

    Ralf Neukirch, DER SPIEGEL: »Then the idea began: We don't actually need NATO for defense in Europe anymore. We need them to defend our values ​​in the world. The most famous example is Peter Struck's statement that Germany's security will also be defended in the Hindu Kush. NATO was also involved in Afghanistan, but it was also involved in the Kosovo war. She was involved in many international missions. But that wasn't really convincing as a reason for existence. And many of these missions - the best-known example is Afghanistan - ended quite catastrophically.

  • The alienation between Russia and Europe

    • After NATO's eastward expansion in 2004 and the Georgia war in 2008, there was increasing estrangement between Russia and the West. Moscow is likely to perceive efforts to further expand the alliance as a threat.

    Ralf Neukirch, DER SPIEGEL: »The Americans, that is very clear, wanted to admit Ukraine and Georgia into NATO. Germany and France, and above all Angela Merkel, were against it because they thought it would annoy the Russians too much. The compromise that was made back then: yes, they get the countries a chance of accession, but in the very long term. Unfortunately, this did not lead to the antagonism that arose between Russia and NATO being resolved in any way."

  • The Ukrainian War

    • When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and finally attacked Ukraine on February 24, 2022, NATO suddenly regained an important role in Europe. First Finland and then Sweden join the alliance.

    Ralf Neukirch, DER SPIEGEL: »What happened is: the shock of this Russian invasion of Ukraine was so great that NATO suddenly knew again exactly what it was there for, namely the defense of Europe against Russia, against Moscow's expansionism .”

    NATO members such as Poland and the Baltic states have built up enormously in a short period of time in the face of the Russian threat on their eastern flank. But for the first time, the unconditional support of its most important member no longer seems certain - should Donald Trump become President of the United States in November.

  • The 2024 US presidential election

    • Donald Trump, US presidential candidate: »One of the presidents of a great country stood up and said: If we don't pay and are attacked by Russia, will you protect us? I said: You didn't pay? Are you late? He said: Yes, let's say that happened. I replied: No, I would not protect you. I would even encourage them to do whatever they want. You have to pay. You have to pay your bills.”

    Ralf Neukirch, DER SPIEGEL: »He has a somewhat childlike understanding of how NATO works. So he obviously assumes: NATO costs XY, of which the USA bears so and so much of the costs. And those who don't pay their bills are the Europeans. But of course that's nonsense. There are no NATO costs in that sense. Each country spends a certain amount on defense and the Americans spend significantly more than the Europeans. That's true. At one point, however, Trump is right, and Joe Biden and his people basically see it that way too, they just put it a little more elegantly: Germany and Europe simply have to spend more on their own defense. The hope would be that at least then a new deal could be found with America that would place more burdens on the Europeans. But that would actually only be fair, because Europe is threatened, not the USA.