The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was born out of the debris of world war two and into the Cold War.
The alliance of the United States - Canada - Europe and others have helped bring peace and stability to the world and kept in check the Soviet Union and now Russia - to a degree.
But now there are questions about the need for NATO and America's commitment to come to our European allies defense if attacked by Putin's Russia.
Donald Trump has questioned the need for the U.S. to continue its role in NATO without a serious reexamination of the funding, at times linking the funding question to the question of U.S. backing the organization.
"It's costing us too much money. And frankly, they [European Nations] have to put up more money. They're going to have to put some up also. We're paying disproportionately," said the Republican candidate in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton says NATO is fundamental that values the alliance - not just for European Security but for our own national security.
"When he [Trump] insults NATO and our Asian allies by saying basically we're going to walk away, he's putting at risk the coalition of nations we need to defeat ISIS."
As part of the NPR effort called "A Nation Engaged" - which asks listeners to explore America's role in the world - we are asking San Antonians about their view on NATO and America's commitment and responsibility to provide military support to defend our allies.
Are we in a new age? Is NATO obsolete and or does it need to be re-examined and re-structured?
Guests:
- Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations
- Ted Galen Carpenter - a senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies and the CATO Institute