From its founding in 1949 by the United States, Canada and a handful of European allies, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's purpose was to deter Soviet aggression, a goal that came to seem obsolete after the Soviet Union's collapse - at least to some. "What we are currently experiencing," French President Emmanuel Macron said in 2019, "is the brain death of NATO."
Now, as President Biden and the alliance's 30 other leaders prepare to gather for their annual summit, few doubt the bloc's crucial role as a bulwark against Russia's neo-imperialist aggression. When it convenes starting Tuesday, in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, the goal will be nothing short of "the biggest overhaul of our collective deterrence and defense since the Cold War," as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg put it.