Hello and welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

I'm Vicki Carter, the producer of the Inquiry podcast.

We put one question to four expert witnesses and find an answer.

We thought you'd like to hear this episode. Do we need a new NATO?

Here's Tanya Beckett.

Welcome to the Inquiry. I'm Tanya Beckett.

Each week, one question, four expert witnesses and an answer.

On the 13th of March, the leader of the world's most powerful military alliance found himself in a desperate bid to keep his organisation relevant in the context of global security.

NATO chief Mark Rutter met with US President Donald Trump at the White House in an attempt to

keep America, NATO's most powerful member, at the centre of the organisation.

Trump's forthright moves to cut a peace deal between Kiev and Moscow

and threats to pull out from providing US military aid

have left European states scrambling to work out how they can go it alone

without American support.

This week on the inquiry, we're asking, do we need a new NATO?

Part 1, Article 5. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is a group of 32 countries that

agree to defend each other in the circumstance that one is attacked.

It was formed in 1949 to counter the threat of the Soviet Union,

and the original alliance included the United States, Canada, and several Western European countries.

But after the end of the Cold War in Europe, it expanded

to include many former communist nations. Article 5 is really the heart and soul of the NATO

Treaty. It's the part of the treaty that says an attack on one ally is going to be considered

...