From the Christian Science Monitor:  NATO is years overdue for a major review of its purpose. The last time the transatlantic military alliance looked in the mirror was 1999 – before 9/11, before widespread cyberattacks, before Russia veered from the democratic path under Vladimir Putin. …

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is still beating the bushes for 450 NATO forces to train the Afghan Army. And US Gen. Stanley McChrystal has yet to figure out how to replace Canadian and Dutch combat troops that are pulling out this summer. …

Meanwhile, political cracks within and among member states are spreading, multiplied by economic crisis. In Europe, the divide between East and West (new democracies vs. old) of the last decade has now spread north to south (richer democracies vs. poorer, more deeply indebted ones). The German-French axis, which drives European politics, is wobbling. Germany’s coalition government is clashing over budget cuts. Tiny Belgium looks headed for splitsville over language and economic differences. …

But now is also precisely the time to rethink NATO, and recommit. External threats don’t wait. …

One would think that 61 years of preserving the peace for its members as well as a general acknowledgement of 21st-century threats would make such a NATO update a fairly easy sell. It might be, to heads of state. But the public is another matter, and that’s where the true challenge lies. Decades of success breed complacency. Economic crisis means preoccupation. An Afghanistan bog-down erodes support.

The strategic concept presents an opportunity for alliance members to remind their citizens of NATO’s contributions to their security. If they fail to communicate this, the threat from within may well prove more dangerous than the ones from without.  (photo: Reuters)

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