Why China and Russia are transforming Nato's fortunes

[LONDON] While Nato was described as "brain dead" by French President Emmanuel Macron as recently as 2019, it has assumed a new lease of life with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in a remarkable turnaround of fortunes that could continue for years if concerns grow about China too.

The crisis in East Europe has underlined the continuing relevance of the Western alliance of countries, which have a collective population of around 1 billion. For all its remaining weaknesses, Nato remains one of the world's most successful military organisations, and has helped underpin the longest period of sustained peace in the West's modern history.

This massive, positive shift in sentiment toward the military alliance since February which, with its defence ministers meeting on Wednesday, has now enabled it to turn the corner on the worst strains in its 70-year history, which coincided with Donald Trump's presidency from 2017 to 2021. Former US officials then, including ex-National Security Adviser John Bolton, have confirmed that Trump came close to announcing US' withdrawal from the body, co-created by Washington in the post-war era.