NATO is no longer brain dead. Emmanuel Macron, who authored that quip back in 2019, can thank Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine for that. But now that it's back to its original mission of containing Russia, can the Alliance keep up?
Kyiv haas made it clear – if the organisation provides the weapons, Ukrainian soldiers will do the fighting. But Ukraine lacks the ammunition and air superiority needed for a quick kill in a counteroffensive that’s up against greater Russian manpower and solid trenches.
For Ukrainians, it’s life or death. But for NATO, is there the same sense of urgency?
The Alliance was founded four years after the end of World War II, when it quickly became clear that victorious allies were no longer allies but nuclear-armed rivals.
The likes of France and Germany have recently boosted defence spending by multiples unseen since the Cold War. But are Europeans and Americans ready for the long haul and an industrial-scale war effort over years; deterrence that in a crisis could mean putting soldiers in harm's way?
Produced by Charles Wente, Josephine Joly and Imen Mellaz.
