North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia, and European Security

Chairman McCain, Senator Reed, members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on our vital NATO alliance. Twenty-five years ago this autumn, we in NATO believed that Europe’s historic demons of war and division had finally been vanquished. With the collapse of communism, the unification of Germany in NATO and end of the USSR, President George H.W. Bush proclaimed a new era—of a Europe “Whole, Free and at Peace.” It was one of the most significant foreign policy accomplishments in American history. Twenty-five years later, General Jim Jones and I believe Europe and the U.S. are facing the greatest threat to the peace since the end of the Cold War.