NATO at 70: An Indispensable Alliance - Analysis of History, Military Importance of European Allies in Dealing with Putin, Russia, China, and Terrorism, Trump Administration Policies and Pressure

This report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. This 2019 House hearing took place just a few weeks from the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization known as NATO. There are many pressing issues facing NATO today, but for us to really assess where the alliance stands in the year 2019, we need to take a step back and look at the history of this great political and military relationship. The first half of the 20th century was marked by periods of widespread suffering, instability, and fear. And at the start of both World Wars, the United States stayed out of the fray, grateful that the Atlantic Ocean kept us far away from the terrors in Europe and the rest of the world. By putting our heads in the sand and trying to stay away from the conflicts, those wars grew into direct threats to our own economy, security, and very way of life. Not to mention the immense suffering that happened while we waited on the sidelines, including the unprecedented horror of the Holocaust.

Contents: Witnesses, Michele Flournoy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Westexec Advisors; Derek Chollet, Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor for Security and Defense Policy, The German Marshall Fund of the United States; Douglas Lute, Senior Fellow, Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Ian Brzezinski, Resident Senior Fellow, Transatlantic Security Initiative, Atlantic Council.

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

And over the next 70 years we will be challenged again and again. We have already seen a resurgent Russia attack its neighbors from cyber attacks in Eastern Europe to military conflicts in Georgia and Ukraine. It is clear that Putin wants to reclaim the superpower status of the Soviet Union. We can meet our challenges if they are confronted with unity and strength. Division and weakness will only tear us apart.