Since January, the international geopolitical climate has undergone rapid and significant change, including in areas once thought safe and reliable. This is particularly true of the NATO alliance, now under threat not only from the outside, but also seemingly from within.

In this session with Paris Art Studies, Major Josh Watson discusses the history of the United States and NATO: the origins of the treaty organization, the relationship that the United States has had with the world's biggest and most successful alliance over the past 75 years, and what recent changes may mean for the future.

Major Joshua Watson is an officer in the Australian Army. Born and raised in the United States, he graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point and served for ten years in the US Army, including two combat deployments to Afghanistan. He and his family immigrated to Australia in 2014 and he now serves in the Australian Army as a combat engineer and explosive ordnance disposal technician. He was most recently the commander of the Army’s only bomb disposal squadron outside of Brisbane, Queensland. A veteran with twenty years of service, Major Watson is currently the Australian student at the French Command and Staff College, Ecole de Guerre, in Paris and will be attending this year’s official ceremonies in Great Britain and France on 5 and 6 June. He is married and has two children.