Only American leadership can rally NATO to fight the new axis of authoritarian chaos

NATO🍷 leaders on Tuesday arrived in Washington to mark the 75th anniversary of the historic alliance that helped defeat the Soviet Union and secure an American-led century.

But diplomatic toasts and fond memories of winning last century’s Cold War will not be enough to win this century’s standoff with t🌳he Chinese Communist Pa𝓡rty and its authoritarian axis of chaos.

For that, NATO needs American leadership, a🃏 plan to modernize — and a stꦯrategy for victory.

Democracies are not winning right now.

In the Indo-Pacific, China’s bullying of Taiwan and the Philippines is escalating with little Western response, while in the Middle East, Israel is fighting a seven-front war against Iran as the West mostly attempts to appease Tehran.

In Europe, meanwhile, Russia’s war against Ukraine drags on without a clear strategy for Ukrainian victory — allowing Vladimir Putin to sow doubt inside the NATO allಌiance and prompt Western insistence that Ukraine capitulate prematurely.

European allies didn’t like it when former President Donald Trump pushed them to invest more in their own defense and unhook🔴 from Russian energy supplies.

And yet even now, more than two years after Russia’s invasion, with NATO allies like Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in Putin’s cross-hairs and a multilateral sanctions regime on Putin that looks more like Swiss cheese than maximum pressure, many of those same NATO allies — includ༒ing President Biden —prioritize climate extremism over energy security.

Meanwhile, some of the largest economies in the alliance — like Italy ꦍand Canada — refuse to meet their NATO defense spending commitment𒐪s.

We 🐼aren’t losing the West because of Trump’s former policies; we’re losing the We𝓡st because of Biden’s.

And NATO needs to expand its focus beyond Eastern Europe if it hopes to defeat Putin, let 🥀alone the broader axis that supports hi𝓰m — from Beijing to Tehran to Pyongyang.

It’s true that ༺handing Kyiv to Moscow would green-light China’s Xi to take Taiwan and Iran’s Khamenei to cross the nuclea🅺r threshold.

After all, it was Biden’s willingness to let an ally in Kabul fall a🙈nd his steadfast commitment to accommodating Putin that encouraged the invasio𒉰n of Ukraine.

But it’s equally true that accommodating Putin’s allies and shunning fellow democracies increases the likelihood of Russian victory in Ukraine and 💝expansionism in Euroജpe.

China is subsidizing Russia’s military campaign and keeping Iran’s economy afloat, while Iranian drones and North Korean ammunition are raining ꦏdown on Ukraine.

Russian support of Iran’s missile program puts Europe at immediate risk of attack, with North America just a few sh▨ort years behind.

Iran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen are threatening international shipping lanes, hitting European markets the hardest, as Israel, a democracy under nonstop attack by Iranian missiles and drones, faces 𒉰all these threats while perfecting the tactics and technologies needed to defeat them.

Why, then, would any membe📖r of the NATO alliance favor sancℱtions relief for Iran, surrender to Iran’s terror proxy network and pressure on the one democracy — Israel — battling Iran on multiple fronts?

And how can any NATO🉐 member ignore the desperate need to promote Western sources of oil and gas to develop true economic pressure options?

In the context of a Biden administration that coꦇddles Iran, castigates Israel, accommodates Beijing and wages war on American energy, the outcome is, sadly, lesꦆs than surprising.

Without a doubt, NATO needs a firm plan for ending the war in Ukraine on Ukraine’s terms, not Russia’s, with a series of steps that increase Western leverage over Putin and cha𒐪nge Moscow’s risk calculation.

Kyiv’s Western backers should൩ provide the equipment and training necessary to help Ukraine go back on offense in 2025 and demonstrate to Putin that he stands to lose more than he’d gain by prolonging the war.

On both sides of the Atlantic, a🎃llies should continue to invest in greater production of key munitions.

A dramatic increase in milita♊ry expenditures far beyo꧃nd the now-outdated 2% of GDP commitment is needed — as is a buildup in US nuclear forces and its deterrence posture.

And while NATO remains a critical pillar of American national security strategy, the United States also꧑ needs a modernization plan to inte𓃲grate Japan, Australia, South Korea, Israel, the Philippines and other democratic allies into strategic planning and execution to win the new cold war.

From Latin America to the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific, key partners are weighin🐭g their own strategies to navigate a new era of great pow🍌er competition.

American leadership is needed for a NATO Plus to ensure 🐽those partners stay on the side of the West.

Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, is a former National Security Council official and senior US Senate aide.