From China to cyber, has Biden agenda reinvigorated NATO?

President Joe Biden’s approach to international alliances and shared values has helped inject a renewed sense of purpose into NATO. But could its focus become too diffuse?

Atmospherics and style are not everything.

But in bringing his commitment to America’s alliances to the NATO summit Monday, along with his conviction that democracies are best suited to meet the 21st century’s stiff challenges, President Joe Biden went a good way toward answering a question hanging over the North Atlantic alliance since the end of the Cold War: What are you good for?

Former President Donald Trump had even suggested the defense alliance of Western allies was “obsolete,” leaving NATO officials and U.S. allies to worry Mr. Trump could pull the plug at any moment.

But now, as NATO ends its Afghanistan mission in September, the transatlantic alliance of 30 democracies is deriving renewed purpose from new challenges: an aggressive Russia on the alliance’s eastern flank, instability around the Mediterranean region, a rising China with ever-advancing global technological capabilities, and 21st-century threats including cybersecurity and faltering democratic governance.

“There’s no question that the atmosphere of this summit is very positive and marks a shift very much appreciated in Europe,” says Ian Lesser, executive director of the German Marshall Fund’s Brussels office. “The shift on display is one of style, but there is substance to the change as well.”

Noting in particular President Biden’s emphasis on “strong alliances and democracy’s utility,” he adds, “The truth is that the American commitment to Europe has grown in many ways over recent years, so put these things together and a lot of the anxieties that were growing within NATO are now allayed.”

The new tone Mr. Biden seeks to set was made clear by the flagpole at the U.S. ambassador’s residence, where the president is staying while in Brussels – below the Stars and Stripes flew the rainbow flag, marking Pride Month. Mr. Trump’s State Department had banned U.S. facilities overseas from displaying the symbol of LGBTQ pride.