Jenn, official new Worldly co-host Alex Ward, and special guest Dr. Alina Polyakova discuss President Trump’s big NATO summit this week and his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has openly criticized the NATO military alliance and said he wants a better relationship with Russia. But Alina, an expert who studies Europe and Russia, argues the NATO alliance is actually in a lot better shape now than it has been in years. Jenn gets really excited about exclamation marks, Alex makes his debut as an official member of the Worldly crew, and Alina compares Trump’s treatment of NATO allies to an abusive relationship. Links! Here's a primer on NATO, in case you wanted to go into more depth than our quick overview We talked a lot about Russia's relationship with Ukraine in this episode, and about the Baltics. Here's some reading on both of those situations. Here's what we expected from the NATO summit and a good run down of what's actually happened. Alina also has a really good WSJ write up of NATO and the Trump presidency. Looking ahead: Alex recommends this guide to Trump's meeting with Putin. Vote for us in the People's Choice Podcast Awards!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices