A decade ago, European members accounted for half of NATO's total defense spending. Today they're less than a third.

Revitalizing the Atlantic Alliance

Gary J. Schmitt, Patrick Keller

As NATO summits go, this weekend's meeting of the alliance's members in Chicago may be memorable if only for being the least memorable one in recent history. Of course, quiet summits are not necessarily bad summits. If the alliance is in good working order, then a lack of headlines or new initiatives is appropriate.

But if there are serious problems facing the member states collectively, then a summit that produces little of substance cannot be considered a success. And as friends of the transatlantic relationship know, this is an alliance facing real problems.

The fact is that NATO remains the West's foremost—and, for many European members, the only—anchor of security

American Entreprise Institute