It has been nearly 80 years since the guns fell silent in World War II. In that long arc of peace, the United States helped rebuild a shattered Europe, deter Soviet expansion, and anchor what we now call the transatlantic alliance. Those were noble achievements. They mattered. They still echo in the prosperity and stability of the Western world today.
But history is not a life sentence. And gratitude, while virtuous, is not a strategy.
The question facing America in 2026 is not whether NATO once served our interests—it clearly did. The question is whether it still does.
The answer is increasingly no.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was conceived in a radically different era, when Western Europe lay in ruins, and the Soviet Union posed an existential threat to the free world. Today, Europe is wealthy, technologically advanced, and more than capable of defending itself—at least it should be. Yet decade after decade, the United States continues to shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden for Europe’s security.
This arrangement is not an alliance among equals. It has become, in practice, a protectorate.
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