Panel at University of Utah Says NATO Remains Central as Members Debate Limits of Collective Defense

At a Hinckley Institute forum at the University of Utah, four panelists with extensive NATO experience said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization remains central to Euro‑Atlantic security even as members debate where collective defense begins and how much each country should contribute. Major General Donna Barbish, retired U.S. Army, convened the discussion and framed the panel around whether NATO — founded in 1949 — still meets member states’ needs as threats change. “Challenge your assumptions,” she told the audience before turning the session over to the panel. Vice Admiral Kevin Greene, U.S. Navy, described two priorities he said matter most for states: “The first is strength. Countries have to be strong. They have to be strong diplomatically, informationally, military, and economic,” he said, adding that NATO is “indispensable for the security ... of the free world.” Greene emphasized that eastern NATO members, including Poland and the Baltic states, are acting as the alliance’s “first responders.” Bruce Lemkin, a member of the Senior Executive Service and a former Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs, said interoperability — the ability of militaries…