As the Chinese curse implies we live in interesting times. An epoch of epic historical transition, a time when the value and purpose of each and every one of the international institutions formed after world war II is being questioned. And that includes NATO. Formed in 1949, as a defensive bulwark against Soviet expansionism, today the Alliance’s troops are deployed in places its founders would never have expected, and for reasons some of its current members sometimes find difficult to justify to their citizens.
Today NATO is trying to reinvent itself, itching to prove it is just the institution to put the muscle back in multilateralism. For the past four years, it’s secretary general, Lord Robertson, has been navigating the alliance’s identity crisis. With the diplomatic wounds of the Iraq war still festering he is telling the skeptics that NATO is still necessary, now more than ever
Guests:
Lord Robertson, NATO Secretary General