The NATO meeting in Turkey, fraught with tension, has concluded. United States President Donald Trump said at the start of the meeting in Ankara that he might not have attended had it not been hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose authoritarianism Trump admires.

The media focus on Trump’s antipathy towards NATO reinforces the perception that the alliance is in trouble. While American ambivalence is a major issue for NATO, the other alliance members realize that, even without the U.S., it’s still important.

As Canadian Prime Minister Carney noted in his speech at Davos earlier this year, middle powers must work together in a multi-polar world.

Read more: Mark Carney’s Davos speech marks a major departure from Canada’s usual approach to the U.S.

Trump, during both his first and second terms, has made his hostility towards NATO clear. From Trump’s perspective, the U.S. provides a security guarantee to NATO member countries while receiving little in return.

The unwillingness of NATO countries to meet the alliance’s previous target of two per cent of GDP spending has made it easy for American critics to question the organization’s usefulness. Trump has even gone so far as to question Denmark’s ability to defend Greenland and said in Ankara, once again, that it should be handed over to........

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