F OCUS - American Foreign Service Association

F O C U S O N N AT O A T 6 0
STILL THE BEST VEHICLE
FOR ENGAGING WITH EUROPE
Francois Podevin
IJean
DESPITE SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS AND GEOPOLITICAL
EQUATIONS, THE ATLANTIC ALLIANCE REMAINS A POWERFUL
TOOL FOR BUILDING ON 60 YEARS OF COMMON DEFENSE.
BY GERALD LOFTUS
nformed Americans have never doubted that NATO has always been devoted to the defense
of Europe. The “North Atlantic” in the treaty organization’s name refers to the indispensable presence in the Alliance
of the U.S. (and Canada), and the extension into the Cold War era of the trans-Atlantic lifelines thrown to Europe during
both World Wars.
Yet among European publics in the post–Cold War present, NATO appears to be mostly about the United States
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