NATO is the , North Atlantic , Treaty Organization. The title should have been changed a long time ago as NATO’s operations moved north and east. NATO is shifting once more, most significantly by extending its account without any serious thought about how to safe its new wings.
Outgoing NATO Chief ,  , Jens Stoltenberg , said last month that China may face effects for its aid of Russia. He was n’t specific. ” It’s too early for me to suggest exactly”, he said. ” My concept is that … it’s no responsible and sustainable that , China continues to fuel the biggest security risks … , for NATO allies, especially in Europe”.
Adding China, perhaps technically, to the concerns of the Atlantic Alliance is a very big step and it widens the list of countries looking for NATO security.
The only positive thing about the NATO summit is that it truly acknowledges its weaknesses. In the event that NATO goes to war, the strategy is to raise costs and significantly increase the number of troops that can be deployed.  ,
According to the inner program, NATO needs to increase its troop size when it is deployed or transportable by 35 to 50 regiments. The NATO command will need to persuade its members to expand their forces, teach them, and have the transport and supply resources to support them on the ground.
The US also has around 100, 000 soldiers in Europe, with around 20, 000 helping beach up NATO’s battlegroups.  , NATO’s army development is on top of the US army presence.
A regiment in NATO is 3-5, 000 soldiers, meaning that NATO may be small up to 250, 000 forces in full. It may also be difficult to raise and train a sizable number of soldiers in NATO states.  ,
In most of Europe and , in the United States, defense interviewing is also below where it should be. In the US,  , just the Marine Corps and Space Command , met their recruiting targets – the Army, Navy and Air Force fell small. The , British , and , Germans , missed their goals by wide margins.
Germany, which could again become a front line target if there is a war in Europe, has an army of , 184, 000 military personnel and 80, 000 civilian personnel , made up of , Professional soldiers ( 57, 365 ),  , Contract soldiers ( 114, 243 ) and , Voluntary military personnel (9, 748 ), there is no conscription. Quite recently, the proposed European security budget , was reduced by 5 billion Dollars.  , For Germany to cooperate with NATO’s strategy it would have to double its defense budget and establish recruitment.
Large chance.
At current NATO does not have regiments – it has battlegroups, each of which has about 1, 000 men. Eight battlegroups are currently in place, and NATO is attempting to increase four more. In addition to forming 35 to 50 new divisions, it would also need to split its eight battlegroups into regiments.  , But far, at least, there is no arrangement on how to do so.
By supplying four new Patriot air defence batteries and extra F-16s ( six of them ) from Norway, fresh agreements have been made at the NATO Summit to shore up Ukraine.
Some NATO people are now also talking about shipping” squadron” of F-16s to Ukraine, but that may be advertising. ( There is a good chance the , US will end up paying for the Patriots. ) The reason is simple: NATO knows that its grand enhancement plans are not going to happen, but it needs Ukraine as a cushion to Russia.  , As long as Russia is tied down, NATO can prevent contact of its deficiencies.
In the Pacific
Democratic allies in the Pacific are seeking a NATO umbrella while NATO is rumors about its plans for a broader participation and its capabilities and taking notice of Beijing’s individual behaviour.  ,
Australia is attending the Summit, wanting to take advantage of NATO martial know-how.  , New Zealand – which wants to encourage the US, as the leading NATO part, to protect it from China – has sent its primary secretary to the meeting.  ,  ,  ,
Japan’s prime minister and South Korea’s leader are there, seemingly buying into NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s perception that NATO has fight both Russia and China.
Japan has longstanding, unresolved issues over the Northern Territories ( the Kuril Islands ), occupied by the USSR at the end of World War II. The bigger issue is China, which Japan concerns will shortly” solve” the Taiwan issue, which places Taiwan in the chain’s center. China has regional says on Japanese-administered islands,  , largely the , Senkaku Islands– which China calls the Diaoyu Islands.  , China even claims Okinawa, which is physically important to the United States.
The US and Japan and the US and Korea have defense treaties ( the 1960 Japan-US treaty was  , recently updated ).  , The US maintains major presence in both states.
In Japan there are 54, 000 US military personnel and another 8, 000 contractors ( plus another 25, 000 Japanese workers ). A nuclear aircraft carrier is housed at the US home base in Japan, and there are also important naval and air forces forces there.
In Korea, the US has 28, 500 soldiers, mostly Army, stationed mainly at Camp Humphreys. In Korea, the US maintains proper weapon threats.
South Korea has mandatory military service for all guys starting at the age of 18, producing a huge army with 500, 000 effective soldiers and 3, 100, 000 servicemen. Its main attack, North Korea, has an even larger effective army, then numbering 1, 320, 000 effective soldiers and a supply of 560, 000.  , Unlike North Korea, which has nuclear arms, South Korea relies on the British “nuclear awning” for protection from its north cousin.
Japan, however, does not have recruitment and , has missed its Self Defense Force interviewing goal , by more than 50 %. Young people in Japan today may find good jobs that pay also. The Self Defense Force is a poor choice for a job, and it pays badly.
Who advantages?
What do Japan or South Korea get from a partnership with NATO, if not account there? It’s difficult to see how NATO could actually help either country, and it could make US-Japanese and US-South Asian relations worse by adding a third control complex between them and their British sponsor.
Similar to that, it is worthwhile to inquire what NATO would get from working with significant US consumers in Asia. NATO does not have any ability to project power toward Asia. There is not much else that NATO can do to really matter to either Japan or Korea, aside from politicians.
In truth, it can be argued that some European “prestige” initiatives have squandered reasonable efforts to strengthen regular land, air and naval forces.  ,
Social winds
NATO even faces some considerable political winds.  ,
One comes from former US President Donald Trump.  , As senator, Trump noisily demanded that the NATO partners , raise their defence spending. Just eight of the 29 friends at the time were spending the NATO target of 2 percentage, compared to the US’s 3.57 percentage in 2018. Some of the friends moved ahead, some did not.
Maybe more alarming, past Trump aides have suggested that , Ukraine is a Western problem, not an American one.  , Stories that NATO , wants to” Trump-proof” itself , are all around, as European politicians fear that Trump wo n’t favor a continuous , war with Russia.  ,
What is obvious is that Trump’s impulse is to discuss with Russia– anything that Europe, apart from Hungary, rejects firmly.  ,  ,
There likewise are critical and essential economic , problems.  , May French President Emmanuel Macron , make concessions to the left,  , it will be terrible.  , The departed wants a , 90 % “wealth tax” , and much greater social spending. (” Wealth” is already leaving France. )  , France cannot do that and also put billion into Ukraine. Recent arsenals are severely underused, but actual funding for the future will have to be made available from current operating budgets. With the new Labor government in place, France is on an economical death loop that could lead to another.
NATO’s Imperial Programs are generally smoking, and if Eastern countries have frequent feel they will not tie , themselves to NATO.
Shoshana Bryen is the senior director of the Hebrew Policy Center, while Stephen D. Bryen is a former US Defense Department standard. This content was first published on the Weapons and Strategy Substack for the first time.