The United States military and partners from 19 countries are getting set to kick off a massive series of war drills in Ukraine amid rising threats from Iran and Russia, according to the Defense Department.
Seventy years ago on Thursday, the United States, Canada, and 10 western European countries created what became, and still remains, the most successful military alliance in history. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization deterred the Soviet Union from overtaking western Europe and, remarkably, won the Cold War without actually fighting the communist empire. Then, after the Berlin Wall fell, the alliance endured, using military force in the Balkans and the broader Middle East to stop Islamist terrorists and brutal, destabilizing authoritarians. All the while, NATO expanded from its original 12 member states to 29.
The Trump administration has made great strides in recent months to transform the cash-strapped and perpetually ailing North Atlantic Treaty Organization into a viable global military force that has the capabilities to confront Russia and other rogue regimes allied with terror forces.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said the Western military alliance must be prepared if Russia ignores calls to return to compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a cornerstone of arms control for decades.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) announced her support for the Trump administration's decision to remove the United States from the Intermediate-Rang Nuclear Forces Treaty if Russia does not comply within 60 days, saying on Tuesday action must be taken to counter the "grave the threat from Russia."
BRUSSELS—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought the Trump administration's voice to a gathering of European leaders, offering a stinging criticism of the European order's capitulation to rogue nations such as Iran, China, and Russia.
President Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, has opened another round of debate on the purpose and future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Since assuming office, Trump has moved away from his earlier position that NATO is obsolete, preferring instead to highlight the disparity between U.S. defense expenditures (3.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product) and those of other signatories to the treaty, especially Germany (1.2 percent). Indeed, Trump rightly views the commitments of NATO powers to increase defense spending as one of the ways he has strengthened the alliance.
The United States military and partners from 19 countries are getting set to kick off a massive series of war drills in Ukraine amid rising threats from Iran and Russia, according to the Defense Department. 
