For the past six decades, the pledge by America, Canada and their European friends that "an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all" has kept the West together. That vow-in Article 5 of nato's charter-helped to see off Soviet communism. And now the alliance is busier than ever: it keeps the peace in the Balkans and guards the sea lanes to Europe. Above all, it is fighting a tough war in Afghanistan.rnAnd it is a popular club. Membership has grown from a cold-war total of 16 to 26 today; more hope to join. France, which left nato's military structure in 1966 (though not the alliance itself), has decided to rejoin. And yet as nato celebrates its 60th birthday in early April, with events straddling France and Germany to prove its success in transcending old feuds, the alliance is wrestling with an identity crisis that has lingered since the cold war ended.
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