APRIL 9, 2025 – To ensure an effective alliance, NATO needs to generate and field forces necessary to provide credible deterrence, increase military spending and take the lead in supporting Ukraine’s defense requirements, said Katherine Thompson, performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, who testified today at a House Armed Services Committee posture hearing in Washington.
“Allies are taking steps to that effect. Last month, for instance, the United Kingdom hosted the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. The U.K. and France have also committed to lead additional efforts to ensure a lasting peace in Ukraine,” she said.
NATO played a central role in America’s strategy throughout the Cold War, but they forgot how important it was to invest in their defense when it ended. Instead, Thompson said, they grew accustomed to the peace that defined Europe and divested their militaries.
Some NATO nations, like Poland and many of the Baltic nations, already spend more on defense than the United States as a percentage of gross domestic product, and they are on track to reach 5% GDP. On the other hand, Western and Central Europe are home to several of the world’s largest and wealthiest economies. These allies are more than capable of raising powerful militaries, she said.
“Tragically, however, they have chosen not to do so. Instead, for decades, they have shown themselves content to freeride, not just at the expense of American taxpayers, but at the expense of their fellow allies’ security,” Thompson said.
Over the last four years, the international threat environment has grown far more dangerous. This is why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reoriented the Defense Department’s focus squarely on warfighting and lethality and has called for a “factory reset” of the NATO alliance, she said.
Army Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, commander of U.S. European Command and supreme allied commander Europe, said Russia’s war in Ukraine has revealed it to be a chronic threat, and in the coming years, that threat will continue to grow. He said Russia has shown it is willing to use military force to achieve geopolitical goals, and it is actively waging a campaign of destabilization across Europe and beyond.
NATO deterrence has held. War has not spilled into NATO territory thanks to support from a broad international coalition. Military support for Ukraine from the U.S., allies and partners has enabled them to mount a courageous defense, Cavoli said.
“Now NATO has taken up this task,” he added. The threat of war also led NATO to embark on a historic campaign to fundamentally overhaul and modernize its military capabilities.
“After years of underinvestment — too many years — our allies are finally optimizing the alliance for high-end warfighting, and within NATO, we now have the plans, the forces, the command and control, and we have the focus to meet that mission. And there’s still much to do, but our allies are investing in defense at a rate we haven’t seen since the Cold War, a 40% increase overall since February of 2022,” Cavoli said.
By David Vergun, DOD News