Some of NATO's faults are birth defects and others are accidents of history or the usual sort of problems that beset any human institution during a third of a century. Yet despite internal strains and external challenges, NATO watched over the political and economic reconstruction of Europe and has kept the peace. Today, new and multiple tensions strain the Alliance still further. Will the NATO that survives—and few actually contemplate its demise— be as successful?

The original deal was this: We would protect Western Europe from the Soviet Union and in return the nations of Western Europe would remain friendly to us and to Western ideas of government and international relations. West Germany also would be protected and, eventually, allowed to contribute to its own defense. We would not even ask the Germans to abandon hope for reunification or concern for their brethren to the east.