For more than three-quarters of a century, NATO has been the linchpin of transatlantic security and has been vital to American global interests and national security. Recent friction among NATO members over Greenland has sparked concern about the future of this critical, U.S.-led organization. However, NATO’s role as the bedrock of global stability remains as vital today as it has since its founding in 1949.
The alliance’s commitment to Article 5 – NATO’s collective defense agreement that means an attack against one shall be considered an attack against all – is the core of NATO’s existence, evolution, and unparalleled strength. The only time it has been triggered was after Sept. 11, 2001, when NATO aircraft were deployed to help protect U.S. airspace after al-Qaida terrorists murdered thousands of Americans in New York City, in the crash in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon in Washington.
NATO is the gold standard in international alliances, enhancing, supporting and advancing U.S. national security like no other partnership. Created in 1949 with the United States as a founding member, NATO is a defensive alliance committed to collective defense, crisis management, and deterrence.
NATO is also a political alliance, in which democratic governments have committed to act together when security is threatened, providing stability in a chaotic world. This political cohesion reduces global uncertainty, raises the cost of aggression by illiberal actors, and strengthens American leadership by embedding in a powerful network of capable partners.
Forces from NATO allies have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with American soldiers around the world. NATO, bolstered by American leadership and aligned with U.S. national security interests, has supported operations in Afghanistan, helped stabilize the Balkans, advised Iraqi security institutions, and stands today against Russian aggression against Ukraine and other parts of Europe.
Following the invocation of Article 5 after 9/11, NATO assumed command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2003. NATO operated under a United Nations mandate to help prevent the country from again becoming a base for international terrorism. That mission continued successfully until 2014 and was followed by the Resolute Support Mission, focused on training, advising, and assisting Afghan security forces until a series of U.S. political decisions, including the signing and implementation of the Doha Agreement, led to the Allied withdrawal in 2021.
In the Balkans, NATO has maintained long-running peace support operations, including Kosovo, where the NATO-led KFOR mission provides a secure environment under the U.N. mandate. NATO has also bolstered stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of broader international efforts to preserve peace after the wars of the 1990s.
In Iraq, NATO operates a noncombat advisory mission, NATO Mission Iraq, at the request of the Iraqi government, strengthening defense and security institutions to forestall/prevent the reemergence of the Islamic State Group.
In the Balkans and Iraq, NATO’s role reflects a second core function of the alliance: crisis management and institutional support in fragile states where instability can spill across borders and threaten broader regional security. These missions are not front-page news but are central to preventing conflict from reemerging – and to the United States’ national security.
Today, NATO’s focus remains deterrence and defense in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Together, allies have increased forward deployments along the eastern flank, strengthened air and missile defenses, expanded exercises, and coordinated long-term support to Ukraine, while maintaining the alliance’s commitment to defend every inch of NATO territory.
Our collective defense, particularly in the face of Russian aggression bolstered by a rogue’s gallery of authoritarian powers, remains paramount. Again and again, often in direct support of U.S. goals, NATO has demonstrated that it can sustain multinational operations far from home, backed by political legitimacy and shared command structures.
Against Russia, NATO’s unity is strategically decisive. Deterrence depends not only on military assets, but on political cohesion and credible commitments. Adversaries assess whether allies will act together under pressure, and that cooperation process and collective defense remain credible and operational.
Most importantly, the alliance continues to evolve in response to broader global realities.
NATO members continue to invest in their own defense and recently increased pledges, thanks to President Donald Trump’s advocacy, enhancing their collective strength. At the NATO Summit in 2025, allies committed to invest 5% of GDP a year on core defense requirements and defense- and security-related spending by 2035. This was a significant increase from the 2014 agreement of 2% of national GDP.
This response – made directly in the wake of Russia’s continued aggression – demonstrates that each country is both investing in its own security while deepening the alliance’s collective strength.
NATO remains the world’s premier alliance and America’s worst adversaries would relish its collapse. This powerful partnership of 32 nations has defended the United States, sustained major operations, stabilized post-conflict regions, and now anchors deterrence against the most serious military threat to our global order in generations.
As President George W. Bush said when welcoming new NATO members in 2004, NATO is not simply a pledge that America would come to Europe’s aid, it is “a solemn commitment that America and Europe are joined together to advance the cause of freedom and peace.”
Two decades later, that commitment continues to shape real decisions, real deployments, and real deterrence in defense of U.S. and allied security. And NATO continues to grow in strength, recently welcoming Finland and Sweden to the Alliance, with other countries eager to join. Our consistent and stable commitment to NATO pays dividends for our national security, for the American people, and for the world.
