NATO at 75: Is Canada losing its grip on the world's greatest military alliance?

Inarguably bigger and more seasoned than it was when it was born from the ashes of the Second World War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — the West's great military alliance — celebrated a milestone Thursday: three-quarters of a century of keeping the peace in Europe.

NATO formally came into being with the signing of the Washington Treaty in the U.S. capital 75 years ago, when 12 western democracies — including Canada — banded together against what they saw as Soviet Russia's expansionism in Europe.

Its creation helped to inaugurate the Cold War and, six years later, brought about the creation of the rival Warsaw Pact of communist countries, led by the Soviet Union.

The contest between those two alliances brought the world to the brink of nuclear war on several occasions, notably in October 1962 and November 1983.

NATO now faces multiple external and internal challenges — ranging from a resurgent Russia to the possibility of Donald Trump regaining the White House and pulling the United States out of the alliance.

Canada was one of the founding members of NATO and pushed at the time to make it a political and economic forum as well as a military alliance.

But while Canada still contributes to and plays important roles within NATO, Ottawa has appeared increasingly off-side with its NATO allies on the political and policy issues of defence spending and preparation.

That has led some allies and critics to wonder whether Canada's influence inside NATO is on the wane.

Sweden as the model NATO nation

There are more voices around the table now, bringing with them a new dynamic. Sweden's accession to NATO after two centuries of neutrality offers a good example of that.

Formally admitted in February, the Nordic country, with