Tag - nato

 
 

NATO

Military personnel secure the perimeter around the World Forum hosting the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2025
Can NATO keep Trump on-message about Russia threat?
When leaders from NATO's 32 countries gather for a summit in The Hague, most want to send a clear message: Russia is the main threat to their alliance.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attend the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on May 31.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025
Pentagon says Japan must meet ‘global standard’ and spend 5% of GDP on defense
Both allies had been mum on whether the U.S. would press Japan specifically to hit the 5% target amid political sensitivities over the issue.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez addresses the media in Madrid on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 20, 2025
Spain risks derailing NATO summit by resisting 5% defense spending goal
At an estimated 1.28% of GDP, Spain had the lowest proportion of expenditure on defense in the alliance last year, according to NATO estimates.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with representatives of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum  in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025
Putin says NATO rearmament not a 'threat' to Russia
NATO will hold a crucial summit in The Hague next week to discuss increasing defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stands alongside Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan and Minister of National Defense David McGuinty as he makes a speech about defense and security at Fort York Armory in Toronto on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2025
Canada vows to meet NATO defense budget target early
New Canadian leader Mark Carney said he will boost funding for the armed forces and hit NATO's 2% military spending target this fiscal year, five years earlier than promised.
Amid growing global tensions and military rearmament, allies in Europe and Asia increasingly fear that under Donald Trump, the U.S. has become an unreliable partner — undermining trust, unity and the foundation of the postwar international order.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2025
Whose side is the U.S. on? Doubts strain alliances
The U.S. once anchored a stable world order. Now, with rising threats from China and Russia, allies scramble to adapt as Washington sends mixed signals on defense and trade.
Many economies in Asia have invested at much lower levels on defense than the U.S., expecting the support of Washington’s military might.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 6, 2025
Asia sees Trump’s 5%-of-GDP defense spending goal as unrealistic
In interviews, key defense officials in Asia have been clear: The ambition is understood, but the math just doesn’t add up.
America's reluctance to provide air defenses sought by its European partners highlights how the western allies are at odds over how to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025
U.S. said to deny air cover to Europe force in postwar Ukraine
The U.S. reluctance to provide the backup sought by its European partners highlights how the allies are at odds over the way to deal with Russia.
The Silver Dania, a Norwegian-owned ship suspected of cable sabotage in the Baltic Sea, whose crew are Russian citizens, in Tromso, Norway, on Jan. 31
WORLD / Politics
Jun 2, 2025
Southeast Asia joins Europe’s calls to defend subsea cables
A spike in cable damage in European waters, particularly in the Baltic Sea, has heightened fears about the global network of subsea cables' vulnerability.
Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich speaks at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington on March 17. Grynkewich is expected to be the U.S. nominee for the positions of both Supreme Allied Commander Europe and U.S. European Command.
WORLD
Jun 1, 2025
America's next top general in Europe will also lead NATO forces
Since taking office in January, Trump's administration has pressured Europe to ramp up its own defense spending.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walk to attend a press conference, following their talks at the Chancellery in Berlin on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2025
Putin's demands for peace include an end to NATO enlargement, sources say
Kyiv and European governments have accused Moscow of stalling while its troops advance in eastern Ukraine.
German and U.S. soldiers participate in Allied Spirit 24, a multinational training exercise, in Hohenfels, Germany, in March 2024. Reforger, NATO’s massive Cold War-era exercise to rush U.S. troops to Europe, was shelved after the Soviet collapse. But with Vladimir Putin attacking neighbors, maybe it’s time to revive it.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 28, 2025
How can Europe deter Putin? Revive the ‘Reforger.’
The massive Cold War military exercise put a stop to Soviet aggression then, and it could do the same with Russia now.
Reindeer herder Ari Maununiemi feeds lichen to his reindeer at his home and farm outside Rovaniemi, Finland, on Feb. 26.
WORLD
May 26, 2025
Growing Arctic military presence worries Finland's reindeer herders
"Military activity has increased massively here since Finland joined NATO," one herder said.
A Rheinmetall  Leopard 2 tank production line in Unterluess, Germany. The country's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has pledged to make the Bundeswehr Europe’s strongest army, marking a sharp departure from post–Cold War pacifism and sparking economic optimism rather than fear.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 19, 2025
German rearmament is a welcome 'war dividend'
Merz’s planned arms buildup means the definitive end to the "peace dividend” that the Western world had enjoyed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Civic Coalition presidential candidate Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski speaks during an election rally in Krakow, Poland, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2025
In Poland, a presidential election with European stakes
The country's presidential elections come at a fraught moment for Europe, analysts said ahead of the first round of voting on Sunday.
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul talks to the press as he arrives for an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey, in Antalya, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2025
'Paradigm shift': Germany says to meet Trump's NATO spending target
Germany, with its dark World War II history, has long been reluctant to spend big on defense.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 13.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025
NATO is sketching out a plan to meet Trump's call for 5% of GDP on defense
Negotiators are making progress ahead of a NATO summit in The Hague in June on a path to hitting the spending goal by 2032.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivers remarks during a news conference at alliance headquarters in Brussels on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2025
NATO chief said to seek defense spending at 5% of GDP by 2032
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded that NATO allies ramp up their military spending to 5% of GDP, a level that not even the United States currently hits.
French President Emmanuel Macron (right) and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pose after signing the French-Polish Friendship and Strategy Pact following their meeting at the Nancy's town hall on Stanislas square in Nancy, eastern France, on Friday.
WORLD
May 10, 2025
Poland edges toward pact on French nuclear-missile shield
A treaty signed Friday includes a pledge of mutual military assistance in an event of an armed conflict and extends into defense industry cooperation.
Veterans in France. For over a dozen NATO members, pensions make up a large — and largely overlooked — chunk of their defense budgets.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 8, 2025
Europe's costly military pensions complicate defense buildup
For over a dozen NATO members, pensions make up a large — and largely overlooked — chunk of their defense budgets.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.