The North Atlantic Treaty Organization turned 75 on April 4. If it did not yet exist, we would have to invent it, because the West needs this forum of sovereign democratic nations to protect our values.

NATO’s principle of “an attack on one is an attack on all” has appealed to many nations beyond its 12 original founders, and its membership continues to grow, with Finland and Sweden joining after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The fact that these two countries, which remained neutral throughout the Cold War, have joined the organization is a crucial indicator of how the global security situation has deteriorated.