The leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries just met in Madrid for the alliance’s most consequential summit in a generation.

NATO appears to have overcome Turkish diplomatic blackmail to bring in two new members, Sweden and Finland. It must approve a new concept for trans-Atlantic security amid Russia’s ongoing assault on Ukraine.

Not least, the alliance — and the U.S. — will confront an inconvenient reality: Even if the Ukraine war takes a heavy toll on Russia, NATO will need a stronger presence in Eastern Europe than it possessed before the conflict.