Recurrent themes of the transatlantic relations – alternative indicators for National contribution to NATO

Recent disputes have divided NATO and have served as a pretext for political confrontation between different Member States, spilling over into non-NATO issues. These disputes were centred on the idea, part technocratic and part moral, of National contribution to collective defence. The two percentage points of GDP that should be allocated have become a leitmotif of equitable burden sharing in the Alliance. This article argues that there are a number of different indicators being proposed that would better serve the interest of informing the public on the sharing of security burdens and details some of them.