GRAPHICS

NATO After the Cold War

Oct 13, 2010 | 20:26 GMT

A ship participates in a NATO drill in Bulgaria.
A view of F241 TCG Turgutreis frigate ahead of the NATO's 'Breeze 2019' Maritime Exercise, in Varna, Bulgaria on July 15, 2019.

(Photo by Ihvan Radoykov/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Ahead of the NATO heads of government summit in Lisbon, Portugal, from Nov. 19-20, the alliance is examining the framework for a new Strategic Concept that will guide it and its efforts in the decade ahead. However, the once-daunting Soviet Red Army and Warsaw Pact no longer exist to provide a unifying threat. Combined with the dramatic expansion of NATO deep into Eastern Europe, the alliance has lost its unifying sense of purpose, and its efforts at reform come at a time of looming fiscal austerity that will make investment in reform difficult.