NATO's Enduring Puzzle: Can 5% Be Enough? The upcoming NATO summit in Ankara promises to be a test of unity as much as an exercise in creative ambiguity.
For the first time in history, the alliance has agreed on a spending target – 5% of GDP by 2035 – yet this agreement is more notable for what it doesn't say than what it does.
The real challenge lies not in meeting the target but in deciding which war to prepare for. The debate over how to balance shared threats with individual interests is as old as NATO itself.