Harlan Ullman, UPI (USA)
The debate that persists among the alliance's 28 members is between Article V and crisis management, the latter reflecting out of area missions particularly the war in Afghanistan in which threats external to NATO's borders require alliance responses and the former, direct aggression and attack sparked by fears of a rejuvenated and potentially hostile Russia. Severe reductions in alliance military forces of course sharpen and intensify this debate about NATO's future role and purpose.