Finally, on economic grounds, the 2 percent strategy and bemoaning of NATO defense spending makes little sense. The United States makes up 22.14 of NATO’s total defense budget but also carries more than 40 percent of NATO’s economic weight. Thus, as far as proportional share between Washington and NATO’s economic size, the U.S. is actually carrying less weight for multilateral operations than its European allies.

The second part of the counterargument deals with entanglement and entrapment. The idea that U.S. presence in an alliance with an extensive security commitment and an ever-increasing number of European countries and can entangle it in a conflict with Russia is persistent and not entirely incorrect.

On one hand, the academic literature suggests entrapment is far less common than perceived. Separate research by Tongfi Kim, Michael Beckley, and Alexander Lanoszka all finds that entrapment is an unlikely scenario in international politics. In fact, the work by Beckley finds that the United States has been able to avoid entanglement by using a large alliance portfolio to balance counteracting commitments.

Even if one is still concerned with the risks of entrapment, this is a major reason why NATO should adopt a strategy less focused on deterring Russia. As we noted previously, by constantly focusing on defense spending and balancing, NATO has threatened Russia. Thus, our argument actually suggests entanglement will be less likely if NATO begins to focus more on cooperative and humanitarian actions within the alliance.

By the mere fact of its continued existence, NATO has displayed a penchant for adaptation to new circumstances. To continue surviving, though, it needs to adapt once again. The focus on balancing against Russia made sense during the Cold War but has made Europe less secure while also decreasing the popularity of the alliance.

By shifting its focus to the promotion of shared values and broader international political cooperation, NATO can prove Macron incorrect, and revitalize its existence in a new era.

Jordan Cohen is a political science Ph.D. student at George Mason University and Connor Monie is a master's candidate in international security at George Mason University.

Image: Reuters