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 the alliance 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.
