Anne Applebaum

Sure. NATO is a defensive alliance. It was created to react to attacks on its members. That has been its role since it was created decades ago. NATO doesn't invade other countries. NATO doesn't have plans to do so, and it doesn't talk about doing so. NATO actually, after the end of the Cold War, reduced its military spending dramatically. And there was one moment in which there were no U.S.

Sure. NATO is a defensive alliance. It was created to react to attacks on its members. That has been its role since it was created decades ago. NATO doesn't invade other countries. NATO doesn't have plans to do so, and it doesn't talk about doing so. NATO actually, after the end of the Cold War, reduced its military spending dramatically. And there was one moment in which there were no U.S.

Sure. NATO is a defensive alliance. It was created to react to attacks on its members. That has been its role since it was created decades ago. NATO doesn't invade other countries. NATO doesn't have plans to do so, and it doesn't talk about doing so. NATO actually, after the end of the Cold War, reduced its military spending dramatically. And there was one moment in which there were no U.S.

tanks in Europe. You know, so the U.S. withdrew enormous forces from Europe. The Europeans reduced their armies. NATO almost began to dissolve. I mean, if you look at kind of the late 90s, early 2000s, a lot of conversations. You can go back and read the op-eds. People are saying, do we still need NATO and so on. But it existed as a kind of shell, just in case.

tanks in Europe. You know, so the U.S. withdrew enormous forces from Europe. The Europeans reduced their armies. NATO almost began to dissolve. I mean, if you look at kind of the late 90s, early 2000s, a lot of conversations. You can go back and read the op-eds. People are saying, do we still need NATO and so on. But it existed as a kind of shell, just in case.

tanks in Europe. You know, so the U.S. withdrew enormous forces from Europe. The Europeans reduced their armies. NATO almost began to dissolve. I mean, if you look at kind of the late 90s, early 2000s, a lot of conversations. You can go back and read the op-eds. People are saying, do we still need NATO and so on. But it existed as a kind of shell, just in case.

The return of NATO spending and the return of expansion of NATO, because Sweden and Finland have recently joined NATO, is happening because of the perception of Russian threat.

The return of NATO spending and the return of expansion of NATO, because Sweden and Finland have recently joined NATO, is happening because of the perception of Russian threat.

The return of NATO spending and the return of expansion of NATO, because Sweden and Finland have recently joined NATO, is happening because of the perception of Russian threat.

So as the Russians began to change their posture, as the Russians began to express an interest in aggression, in invading other countries, invading Ukraine, they invaded Georgia, they threatened Estonia, they've threatened everybody, they've threatened the British, they've threatened the Germans.

So as the Russians began to change their posture, as the Russians began to express an interest in aggression, in invading other countries, invading Ukraine, they invaded Georgia, they threatened Estonia, they've threatened everybody, they've threatened the British, they've threatened the Germans.

So as the Russians began to change their posture, as the Russians began to express an interest in aggression, in invading other countries, invading Ukraine, they invaded Georgia, they threatened Estonia, they've threatened everybody, they've threatened the British, they've threatened the Germans.

As they began to do that in a more regular and a more believable way, everybody began to say, right, we need to think once again about self-defense. And of course, the invasion of Ukraine was a triggering point where people saw that Putin was prepared for a very large scale war. He was prepared for civilian atrocities, for the destruction of infrastructure, all of those things.

As they began to do that in a more regular and a more believable way, everybody began to say, right, we need to think once again about self-defense. And of course, the invasion of Ukraine was a triggering point where people saw that Putin was prepared for a very large scale war. He was prepared for civilian atrocities, for the destruction of infrastructure, all of those things.

As they began to do that in a more regular and a more believable way, everybody began to say, right, we need to think once again about self-defense. And of course, the invasion of Ukraine was a triggering point where people saw that Putin was prepared for a very large scale war. He was prepared for civilian atrocities, for the destruction of infrastructure, all of those things.

And that meant that NATO needed to refresh its defenses again. And that process is continuing, actually. I mean, the European countries are now almost all spending more than 2%. Some of them are higher than that. Poland, where I live part of the time, is over 4% of its, I'm talking about percentages of GDP, on the military. And in a way, it's very sad.

And that meant that NATO needed to refresh its defenses again. And that process is continuing, actually. I mean, the European countries are now almost all spending more than 2%. Some of them are higher than that. Poland, where I live part of the time, is over 4% of its, I'm talking about percentages of GDP, on the military. And in a way, it's very sad.

And that meant that NATO needed to refresh its defenses again. And that process is continuing, actually. I mean, the European countries are now almost all spending more than 2%. Some of them are higher than that. Poland, where I live part of the time, is over 4% of its, I'm talking about percentages of GDP, on the military. And in a way, it's very sad.

That's money that people aren't spending on health care or, I don't know, building nice parks and cities. are a lot of things that you sacrifice for doing that, but that's all happening because of this perception of threat. So NATO has been an institution that was interested in keeping the rules. I mean, NATO was very Europe-focused.

That's money that people aren't spending on health care or, I don't know, building nice parks and cities. are a lot of things that you sacrifice for doing that, but that's all happening because of this perception of threat. So NATO has been an institution that was interested in keeping the rules. I mean, NATO was very Europe-focused.