STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- The future of Europe may rest on whether NATO can recover its roots.

With Russian President Vladimir Putin "land grabbing" and violating international law, the alliance is finding itself "brought back to its core," says Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO's former secretary general. But it isn't prepared.

When NATO was founded in 1949, its central task was to protect its members against military aggression and work to promote democracy -- which, in the years following, often meant standing against the Soviet empire.

The alliance declares success in achieving that goal peacefully, saying on its website that "throughout the entire period of the Cold War, NATO forces were not involved in a single military engagement."

Unmarked military vehicles burn on a country road in Berezove, Ukraine after a clash between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists.

But things changed after the Cold War. The focus was no longer on Russia. NATO says "new threats" emerged. The alliance got involved militarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, and later in Macedonia. It established a military force in Afghanistan, and has forces in Somalia and some other parts of Africa.

Now, Russia is increasing its reach, and getting close to NATO terrain. It annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March and is accused of sending its troops into eastern Ukraine in support of pro-Russian rebels, a claim that Moscow denies. So, 55 years into its existence, NATO finds itself, as the Financial Times put it, going "back to the future."

Just how to do that is a central question as the alliance convenes its summit in Wales.

"The problem NATO has is it's not fully ready to be able to protect its own members," Robin Niblett, director of the think tank Chatham House, told CNN. NATO's military preparedness is "paltry compared to the kinds of steps the Russians are taking."

Here is the original post:

NATO's big problem