NATO 3.0 and the message from Washington: Europe must carry the weight

The Pentagon’s top policy official has delivered one of the clearest signals yet that Washington wants a structural reset inside NATO, not an exit, but a redistribution of responsibility.

Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Elbridge Colby framed the shift in deliberately sober terms, calling for “partnerships not dependencies” and arguing that the alliance’s current model is “no longer fit for purpose”. The phrase he used,” NATO 3.0,” was less about branding than about redefining who does what inside the bloc. In his telling, Europe must take on the primary role in its own conventional defence, while the United States narrows and refocuses its contribution.

Colby was careful to present the change as strategic pragmatism rather than retrenchment. Washington, he said, would continue to provide its extended nuclear deterrent and would still “train, exercise, and plan alongside our allies”, but its conventional role would be “more limited and focused”. The underlying message was direct: the capability gap is no longer acceptable, and the political patience in Washington for carrying the bulk of the burden is wearing thin.

The argument rests on a recognition that Europe has the economic and industrial capacity to do more. What Colby described as a “rebalancing of roles and burdens” is, in effect, a call for the alliance to align its military structure with geopolitical reality, particularly as US attention and resources are increasingly pulled toward other theatres.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte responded by emphasising continuity as much as change. He described the meeting as “one of the most pivotal” of his tenure and reaffirmed that the US nuclear umbrella would remain “the ultimate guarantor of our security here in Europe and Canada”, coupled with a continued American conventional presence on the continent. His framing suggested that the alliance is trying to adapt without triggering fears of abandonment.