Misplaced Faith? The U.S. And NATO

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty promises that NATO member countries will assist their allies if they are attacked by a foreign armed force. That was always crucial during the Cold War and it has come back into relevance after Russia's annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. NATO member states in Eastern Europe, especially Poland and the Baltic States, have been looking towards their eastern borders with trepidation.

Donald Trump frequently raised questions about U.S. commitment towards automatically defending NATO allies during the election campaign. He said to the New York Times that the U.S. should only provide military assistance to allies who "fulfilled their obligations to us". According to a Pew Research study conducted last year, 31 percent of people in Poland thought the U.S. would not assist them if their country was attacked by an armed force. Generally, however, most people in NATO countries do have faith in the U.S. military providing them with military assistance in the case of conflict. This infographic originally appeared on Forbes.