It was Baron Hastings Ismay, Winston Churchill’s military advisor and NATO’s original secretary general, who first described the organization as an alliance to keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down. Last week’s summit was devoted almost entirely to the second task, which is not a healthy sign.
The bar for success at the two-day gathering of 32 world leaders was just institutional survival. It was about having Donald Trump not throw further doubt over American commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Article V collective defense clause, which is the bit that keeps the Russians out. They achieved that aim, but it was touch and go.
