THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2024 21 concrete steps to help Ukraine build a bridge to NATO membership. It lifted the traditional requirement of completing the Membership Action Plan (MAP), created the first NATOUkraine Council as well as a new mission for training and security assistance, established a new NATO Representation office in Kyiv, launched initiatives to help Ukraine modernize its forces, and declared that Ukraine is on an “irreversible” path to membership. Perhaps even more troubling for President Putin, the Alliance added Sweden and Finland as members, significantly increasing Russia’s land border with NATO and proving that despite Russia’s best efforts, NATO’s door remains wide open. The dramatic changes didn’t stop there. NATO issued a new Strategic Concept in 2022 that mentioned the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for the first time. NATO members significantly increased defense spending, with 23 of the 32 Allies hitting the 2 percent target for the first time in 2024. The Alliance placed four new multinational battalions in Eastern Europe, bringing the total in that region to eight. It rolled out new regional plans that will ensure that the Alliance can protect every inch of NATO territory. NATO deepened its partnership with its four Indo-Pacific partners. And NATO has spent the past three years strengthening its tool kit to take on future challenges such as cybersecurity, emerging and disruptive tech, and space. In July the Alliance celebrated its 75th anniversary at the Washington Summit. While parts of the summit were designed to look back at all that NATO had achieved over more than seven decades, most of the three days were about NATO’s bright future. This is, after all, an alliance that continues to attract new members. It is an alliance that continues to adapt to new challenges. It continues to get Ukraine what it needs to defend itself. And its strength continues to rest in members’ shared values and commitment to collective action. Ambassador Julianne Smith is the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO. Prior to her current position, she served as a senior adviser to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as acting national security adviser and deputy national security adviser to then–Vice President Joseph R. Biden, and as the principal director for European and NATO policy in the O ce of the Secretary of Defense. In addition to her government service, Ambassador Smith has held a variety of positions at research institutions including the Center for New American Security, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the German Marshall Fund, the American Academy in Berlin, and the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik in Berlin. Why Does NATO Matter to the United States? By Alexander Vershbow NATO matters for U.S. security for the simple reason that peace and security in Europe are vital to our own security and prosperity and to encouraging respect by other nations for the values on which NATO is based: liberty, democracy, and the rule of law. Americans learned after World War I the cost of disengaging from Europe and choosing the path of isolationism. e wise leaders who created NATO 75 years ago were determined not to repeat the same mistake. NATO was formed by the United States, Canada, and 10 West European nations to provide collective security against the growing threat of a hostile Soviet Union and to alleviate instability in the wake of the devastation of Europe during World War II. NATO’s purpose as set forth in its founding treaty was to secure peace in Europe and the North Atlantic area, promote cooperation among its members, safeguard freedom, and deter external aggression. Under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, members pledged to treat an attack on another member as an attack on all and to take action—individually or collectively—to assist the victim of aggression to restore peace. While the threats to NATO security have changed over the past 75 years, the purpose, values, and founding principles of the Alliance have not. I worked on NATO policy for the larger part of my 40-year diplomatic career, including 11 years at NATO headquarters. As an insider who has attended more NATO summits than I care to count, I think NATO’s enduring value lies in its remarkable ability to adapt to changing circumstances and evolving threats to members’ security. NATO is now stronger, bigger, and more united than ever. —Ambassador Julianne Smith
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