In his final policy speech, outgoing US Defence Secretary Robert Gates issued a dire warning that “the level of cooperation from NATO member states with respect to money, weapons and troops threatened the potency and relevance of NATO in the future.” According to him, the decade long war has exhausted the US, the traditional leader and patron of the NATO alliance. It is also dealing with its own mounting budget deficits.1 In the last few years, Washington has been quite vocal about its frustration with most of its NATO allies over various issues, including Afghanistan. US’ frustration has apparently deepened further as out of the 28 member states of the NATO, only five states - the US, Britain, France, Greece and Albania-have been spending 2% of their GDP on defence, a necessary requisite of the alliance system.2 Given that NATO was initially formed to counter the Soviet threat during the Cold War, Robert Gates’ statement is bound to stir up debate within the US over the former’s continued relevance

• 1. Thom Shanker and Steven Erlanger. “Blunt U.S. Warning Reveals Deep Strains in NATO”, The New York Times. June 10, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/world/europe/11nato.html?_r=2&ref=world
• 2. “Does NATO Have a Purpose and Longer?” The Guardian. June 12, 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/12/nato-usa