Nato leaders head to Washington with storm clouds gathering

ITV News discusses the most significant Nato meeting in 75 years which will take place later this week

President Biden will tonight welcome Nato leaders to Washington as they mark the alliance’s 75th anniversary.

But we shouldn't be deceived by the smiles and warm embraces that will be on display as they gather here.

Yes, it will be a celebration of the world’s most successful defensive pact. But the storm clouds are gathering.

Many questions are ricocheting around Washington concerning Nato’s future. Among them:

A war that has lasted for two and a half years is still raging in Ukraine - but how will it end? Yesterday’s Russian strike on a cancer hospital is a sign of the savagery and the terrible human toll that is being inflicted. But no plan exists to reach a ceasefire.

Should Ukraine be admitted into Nato in the near future? Some Nato leaders believe that it will help contain Russia and offer hope to a beleaguered nation. Others fear the offer of membership tramples over a Russian red line, guarantees escalation, and risks World War Three.

The US President is engulfed in a bizarre crisis over his cognitive health. Can America lead Nato while questions circulate about Biden’s future and with the possibility (at this point, the likelihood) that Donald Trump will be in the Oval Office in six months? The great debate in national security circles is how to Trump-proof the western alliance.

Can Nato countries even maintain their solidarity on Ukraine when the Hungarian leader, Viktor Orban, has been visiting President Putin in the Kremlin, undermining western attempts to isolate the Russian strongman?

There is a major debate about Nato’s role further afield, beyond the European theatre. If the 21st century will be defined by the rivalry between the US and China, does the western alliance have the capacity to be a military force in the Indo-Pacific?

Finally, and most immediately, do cash-strapped European nations have the political will and economic resilience to invest in a huge upgrade of their military capabilities?

These are just some of the questions that will be overshadowing the Nato summit.

Back in 1949, when the alliance was founded, President Truman spoke of his hope that Nato would become “a shield against aggression…a bulwark which will permit us to get on with the real business of government and society, the business of achieving a fuller and happier life…”

The shield is now under severe stress. As Nato marks its 75th anniversary, wars are raging in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and autocracies are emboldened.

That's a grim reality check amid the Washington anniversary celebrations this week.

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