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NATO

Many economies in Asia have invested at much lower levels on defense than the U.S., expecting the support of Washington’s military might.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 6, 2025
Asia sees Trump’s 5%-of-GDP defense spending goal as unrealistic
In interviews, key defense officials in Asia have been clear: the ambition is understood, but the math just doesn’t add up.
America's reluctance to provide air defenses sought by its European partners highlights how the western allies are at odds over how to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025
U.S. said to deny air cover to Europe force in postwar Ukraine
The U.S. reluctance to provide the backup sought by its European partners highlights how the allies are at odds over the way to deal with Russia.
The Silver Dania, a Norwegian-owned ship suspected of cable sabotage in the Baltic Sea, whose crew are Russian citizens, in Tromso, Norway, on Jan. 31
WORLD / Politics
Jun 2, 2025
Southeast Asia joins Europe’s calls to defend subsea cables
A spike in cable damage in European waters, particularly in the Baltic Sea, has heightened fears about the global network of subsea cables' vulnerability.
Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich speaks at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington on March 17. Grynkewich is expected to be the U.S. nominee for the positions of both Supreme Allied Commander Europe and U.S. European Command.
WORLD
Jun 1, 2025
America's next top general in Europe will also lead NATO forces
Since taking office in January, Trump's administration has pressured Europe to ramp up its own defense spending.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walk to attend a press conference, following their talks at the Chancellery in Berlin on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2025
Putin's demands for peace include an end to NATO enlargement, sources say
Kyiv and European governments have accused Moscow of stalling while its troops advance in eastern Ukraine.
German and U.S. soldiers participate in Allied Spirit 24, a multinational training exercise, in Hohenfels, Germany, in March 2024. Reforger, NATO’s massive Cold War-era exercise to rush U.S. troops to Europe, was shelved after the Soviet collapse. But with Vladimir Putin attacking neighbors, maybe it’s time to revive it.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 28, 2025
How can Europe deter Putin? Revive the ‘Reforger.’
The massive Cold War military exercise put a stop to Soviet aggression then, and it could do the same with Russia now.
Reindeer herder Ari Maununiemi feeds lichen to his reindeer at his home and farm outside Rovaniemi, Finland, on Feb. 26.
WORLD
May 26, 2025
Growing Arctic military presence worries Finland's reindeer herders
"Military activity has increased massively here since Finland joined NATO," one herder said.
A Rheinmetall  Leopard 2 tank production line in Unterluess, Germany. The country's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has pledged to make the Bundeswehr Europe’s strongest army, marking a sharp departure from post–Cold War pacifism and sparking economic optimism rather than fear.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 19, 2025
German rearmament is a welcome 'war dividend'
Merz’s planned arms buildup means the definitive end to the "peace dividend” that the Western world had enjoyed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Civic Coalition presidential candidate Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski speaks during an election rally in Krakow, Poland, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2025
In Poland, a presidential election with European stakes
The country's presidential elections come at a fraught moment for Europe, analysts said ahead of the first round of voting on Sunday.
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul talks to the press as he arrives for an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey, in Antalya, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2025
'Paradigm shift': Germany says to meet Trump's NATO spending target
Germany, with its dark World War II history, has long been reluctant to spend big on defense.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 13.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025
NATO is sketching out a plan to meet Trump's call for 5% of GDP on defense
Negotiators are making progress ahead of a NATO summit in The Hague in June on a path to hitting the spending goal by 2032.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivers remarks during a news conference at alliance headquarters in Brussels on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2025
NATO chief said to seek defense spending at 5% of GDP by 2032
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded that NATO allies ramp up their military spending to 5% of GDP, a level that not even the United States currently hits.
French President Emmanuel Macron (right) and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pose after signing the French-Polish Friendship and Strategy Pact following their meeting at the Nancy's town hall on Stanislas square in Nancy, eastern France, on Friday.
WORLD
May 10, 2025
Poland edges toward pact on French nuclear-missile shield
A treaty signed Friday includes a pledge of mutual military assistance in an event of an armed conflict and extends into defense industry cooperation.
Veterans in France. For over a dozen NATO members, pensions make up a large — and largely overlooked — chunk of their defense budgets.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 8, 2025
Europe's costly military pensions complicate defense buildup
For over a dozen NATO members, pensions make up a large — and largely overlooked — chunk of their defense budgets.
Soldiers drive a British battle tank during joint combat exercises between the French and British armies north of the city of Reims, in northeastern France, on April 22.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2025
Conflicts spur 'unprecedented' rise in military spending
More than 100 countries, including all of the 15 largest spenders, increased their military budgets last year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.
Japanese Ambassador to NATO Osamu Izawa (left) meets with the alliance's secretary-general, Mark Rutte, at NATO headquarters in Brussels recently.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 13, 2025
Japan’s NATO envoy targets industrial tie-ups to boost defense supply chains
Tokyo's first dedicated ambassador to the alliance says this will also boost interoperability with partners amid the tense regional security environment.
The Bundeswehr booth at the Hannover Messe 2025 trade fair in Hannover, Germany, on March 31.
WORLD / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2025
Germany wants to be a military powerhouse. Can it pull it off?
Achieving this may be easier said than done. Germany’s defense and national security apparatus is fragmented and encumbered by bureaucracy.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte meets with members of an explosives disposal team while inspecting equipment aboard the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Mogami frigate at the Yokosuka Base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2025
Japan and NATO strengthen links amid rising security fears
The starting point for the deepening ties is a shared view that security is indivisible and events that create instability in one part of the world will impact other regions.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte speaks during a forum at Keio University in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 9, 2025
NATO chief calls on allies and partners to ‘outproduce and outpace’ rivals
In Tokyo on Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called on members of the alliance and its four Indo-Pacific partners to work more closely together.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte speaks after touring the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami frigate at the Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 8, 2025
NATO chief makes Japan debut with focus on defense industry tie-ups
Rutte will speak with defense industry representatives to get their assessment on “what they do to ramp up production and how we can better work together.”

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