For nearly 70 years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has provided a system of collective defense for North American and European Nations. Known as NATO, the alliance has grown from 12 nations when it came into existence in 1949 to 29, but it has maintained a system of collective defense in which independent member nations subscribe to mutual defense. NPC Broadcast/Podcast Committee member Lincoln Smith talks with Jeff Rathke, the president of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., about the history and meaning of the alliance.