Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Trump Scolds NATO Allies Claiming They Owe Massive Sums

Donald Trump continued to do Vladimir Putin's work at the NATO summit yesterday, scolding America's allies claiming they owe massive sums. Thus, he weakened the alliance in two different ways. First, he attacked the governments of financially strapped allies like Greece, Portugal and Spain for not spending money they don't have on defense. Second, his ignorance of NATO's machinery diminished the European members' belief that America's leadership knew what it was doing. The only winner here was Moscow.

The massive amounts of money Mr. Trump claims most of the allies owe is the 2% of GDP they pledged to spend on defense by 2024. "Twenty-three of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying for their defense," he stated. The president was blissfully unaware that they don't need to reach 2% for another seven years to keep their word.

Moreover, the 2% figure is a completely arbitrary number pulled from thin air. Spending as a proxy for military effectiveness is a poor indicator. The French spent heavily in building the Maginot Line. Poland's cavalry in 1939 was world class. America outspent North Vietnam during the 1960s by huge sums. It is a convenient figure but sadly far removed from usefulness.

Yet where Mr. Trump's statements about all of this really damage America's standing in the world is in his belief that there is some kind of common fund to which all NATO members contribute. He seems to think that the kitty is short several billion euro and that American taxpayers are stuck with the bill. This is simply wrong.

On top of that, Mr. Trump did something no other American president has done. He failed to acknowledge that the US stood by the terms of Article 5 of the NATO pact, the part that makes it a mutual defense agreement. An attack on one is an attack on all. Jeff Rathke, deputy director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told CNN, the president "ignored the bargain that is at the heart of NATO." In addition, "What the President did today was demand the resources without stating the commitment -- there was no carrot, it was all stick." That "will weaken the perception of American commitment to NATO." Furthermore, Mr. Rathke stated "The Europeans expected [affirmation of Article 5] and he didn't do it ... that isn't how you lead an alliance. Sometimes you have to give tough love. But today was a chance to be big and Reaganesque and he didn't do it."

Mr. "Art of the Deal" Trump doesn't seem to understand a basic premise of negotiation. Failing to affirm the American commitment to European defense is hardly a way to get the Europeans to contribute more to NATO. How does a prime minister or president get a 2% GDP defense budget when the US is lukewarm to the whole alliance? Would Mr. Trump buy into a real estate deal where one of the main parties is expressing a disinterest in the project?

Mr. Trump famously and stupidly said that NATO was obsolete during the presidential campaign. He harped on and on at the meeting yesterday about terrorism, which is a problem, but hardly an existential threat to the member nations. He was silent about Russia, which has a great many nations in the eastern part of the NATO alliance very worried. The Baltic States believe (rightly) that Russia poses a real threat to their sovereignty on a daily basis. There was nothing from Mr. Trump about the actions of the Russian military and cyberwarriors.

"Trump's behavior at this NATO meeting in Brussels is a definitive win for Putin," said Jorge Benitez, of the Atlantic Council, expert on NATO and attendee of the NATO meeting. "It just increases a lot of the doubts and fears and concerns our allies have had."

Angela Merkel is now the leader of the free world.

© Copyright 2017 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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