Robert Siegel

Back in his first term, President Trump was often criticized for talking to the NATO allies in very transactional terms, not drawing upon some deep fraternal democratic spirit that we had in common.

Compared with the past couple of weeks, those were the good old days of the alliance.

E.J., is the NATO alliance on the rocks?

Mona?

I was forced to think, thinking about the state of the alliance, to think back on pretty big crises that NATO has weathered.

And it may be a more durable alliance than we'd think.

In the 1950s, Eisenhower over Suez told the Brits and the French they couldn't have the Suez Canal back.

It was a big crisis.

NATO got over it.

In the 1960s, Charles de Gaulle threw NATO out of France.

NATO was in France until 1966.

He withdrew French troops from the integrated...

NATO command.

It was a crisis.

NATO somehow survived and got over it.

So perhaps this is, at least in the past, was a pretty durable institution.

Let's look at one other international relationship that is between the United States and Israel.

Twice, last June and this year, the U.S.

and Israel have conducted coordinated airstrikes against Iran.

It's hard for me to remember any time when the U.S.