INTERNATIONAL POLICY ANALYSIS What Remains of the West? – Quo Vadis NATO? HELMUT W. GANSER, WULF LAPINS AND DETLEF PUHL February 2018 n NATO is caught up in a serious crisis. Its meaning and purpose is a subject of con­troversy – a return to territorial defence in the East or focus on a widening fight against terrorism in the South? Its leadership is uncertain – what does the US-under Donald Trump want? What do»the Europeans« want? Do they both still want the same thing? What remains of the Western Alliance, which sees itself as a democra­tic community of values? n The considerable change that has taken place in the security environment of NATO since the adoption of the 2010 strategic concept and differences in national con­cepts regarding the future thrust of the Alliance require a process of clarification. NATO needs a new strategic concept, including the rekindled debate over the role of nuclear weapons, effective combatting of international terrorism and the right way to deal with technological progress in military doctrine. n Looking towards the future of the Alliance, another decisive factor will be whether Europeans will want to assume an autonomous role – and if so, in which framework they decide to do this. By the same token, Europeans need to agree on what role they want the US to be assigned in Europe in the future.