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  • NATO is turning 70, and there were high hopes for a drama-free celebration, but this year's summit turned out to be a little more complicated than expected.

  • Macron said that the alliance was experiencing what he called brain death.

  • You just can't go around making statements like that about NATO.

  • It's very disrespectful.

  • Nobody needs NATO more than France.

  • As tensions within the alliance keep playing up publicly, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is having a bit of an identity crisis.

  • I don't think we're looking at the imminent breakup of NATO.

  • What we're seeing at the minute is a debate about what the alliance is gonna be in the next 70 years.

  • The big question for NATO today is, does it need to change to remain relevant?

  • NATO's banner flies proudly.

  • NATO has evolved over time, from a 12-member group formed in 1949 and focused on protecting Europe from the Soviet Union to the 29-member global security organization it is today, conducting a range of security missions around the world.

  • The alliance has always been based on the same principle of a collective defense.

  • An attack on one member country is an attack on all allies.

  • The benefits are enormous.

  • You're in NATO and your country is attacked, then all of the other countries are bound by treaty to come to your defense as well.

  • Here's where things get tricky.

  • The concept of a collective defense rests on the idea that everyone is on the same page about who the enemy is.

  • In the early days, the enemy was clear, the Soviet Union.

  • Since the foundation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the communists have gained not one foot of new territory in Europe.

  • Today, it's not so simple.

  • I think, though, that the main fundamental shift is this big question that Macron has brought up, so is Russia our enemy?

  • No, is his answer.

  • Is China our enemy?

  • No, is his answer.

  • I suppose, then, the question from the other allies is, well, what are they?

  • One way the organization is evolving is by shifting some of its resources to things like cybersecurity and space.

  • But that collective commitment to defense costs money, and money has become a big reason for tensions.

  • It's not right to be taken advantage of on NATO and also, then, to be taken advantage of on trade, and that's what happens, and we can't let that happen.

  • The issue has been called burden-sharing or the idea that member countries should all pay their fair share.

  • Fair burden-sharing underpins everything that we do.

  • The U.S. has been seen as the leader of NATO, and it spends more on defense than the other members, which President Trump and others say is unfair.

  • NATO members must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations.

  • For context, Trump isn't the first president to raise the issue.

  • Everybody's gotta step up, and everybody's gotta do better.

  • But he is the first to suggest he might not defend some NATO allies if they don't pay up.

  • In 2014, NATO countries formally agreed to spend 2% of their GDP on defense by 2024.

  • In 2016, only four of the 29 allies were spending that much.

  • Now, the White House says that number's up to nine.

  • Still, there's no penalty if countries don't make the guideline and not everyone is expected to reach the 2% by 2040.

  • There's been an impetus again to start investing in defense.

  • It's very expensive, you have to take money away from things like hospitals and schools, which is not necessarily popular, so that's been difficult for governments.

  • Different countries have different priorities.

  • Some are more willing to invest in defense than others, and those riffs are a manifestation of fundamental disagreements over how the alliance should operate.

  • Just take Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria.

  • Turkey, which is also a NATO member, moved into the region.

  • This all happened without consulting NATO allies, and NATO members were split on how to respond.

  • NATO plays things very cool.

  • They are an alliance of 29 countries.

  • Over the years, NATO's become very good at balancing the interests of all of those countries.

  • Certainly, Macron's comments have shaken up what would've been, what they hoped to be a more sedate affair.

NATO is turning 70, and there were high hopes for a drama-free celebration, but this year's summit turned out to be a little more complicated than expected.

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