NATO Got It Wrong: China Is a Bigger Threat Than Russia

NATO Heads of the states and governments pose for a family photo during the NATO summit at the Alliance's headquarters, in Brussels on June 14. Yves Herman/Pool/Reuters

Commentary

NATO finally addressed China in a half-serious way. The U.S.-led alliance system described the country as a “challenge” in a communiqué. But NATO continues to plod along, way behind the curve. While NATO rightly recognizes Russia as an aggressive threat (the country did invade Ukraine in 2014, and is still there), history’s most powerful democratic alliance system continues to downplay history’s biggest totalitarian threat: China.