BRUSSELS, July 6 — The shift is unmistakable. NATO, the defensive alliance born in the shadow of the Soviet Union, is marking its 75th anniversary this week at the Washington summit—and the alliance looks nothing like it did in 1949. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded on April 4, 1949, by 12 founding members, including the United States, Canada, and Western European nations.
Its core mission then: collective security against the Soviet Union. Article 5, the alliance’s mutual defense clause, remained untested for over five decades.
That changed on September 11, 2001. The terrorist attacks on the United States triggered Article 5 for the first time, an attack on one becoming an attack on all. The Cold War ended, and NATO expanded eastward, pulling in former Warsaw Pact members.
The alliance’s footprint shifted closer to Russia’s borders. Now, in 2024, NATO has 31 member states.
Sweden joined just this March, a historic expansion driven by a changed security landscape. The trend underneath is clear: the alliance is growing, not shrinking. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, NATO has provided substantial military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv.
It has not directly intervened—there are no NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine. But the flow of weapons and supplies has been steady, and the message has been consistent. The 2024 Washington summit is the 75th anniversary gathering.
It arrives at a moment of war in Europe, a new member in the fold, and an alliance wrestling with its own future. What’s changing?
The alliance’s original purpose—deterring Moscow—is back in sharp focus. But the threats are no longer just conventional. Cybersecurity, hybrid warfare, and the rise of China’s global ambitions are reshaping the agenda.
Watch this space. The Washington summit will test whether an alliance designed for the 20th century can stay ahead of 21st-century challenges.
The trend underneath is that NATO is adapting, but the pace of that adaptation will determine its relevance for the next 75 years.
