Donald Trump threw a tantrum at the NATO summit and packed up his toys and left the party early. Another multilateral summit with democratic allies, another embarrassment for Trump and the country he’s supposed to lead. Sigh.
NATO is facing a crisis sparked by Trump. The leader of Nato’s most important member regularly criticizes the alliance. He acts as though NATO countries owe the United States money as part of a protection racket, revealing a
lack of understanding of the value of the alliance and how NATO works (countries don’t pay one another). He praises the leader of Russia – Nato’s biggest adversary – and asked for Russia’s help to win his campaign in 2016.
🍊 abruptly pulled US forces out of Syria with no coordination with NATO, despite the potentially major implications for European security.
The Syria withdrawal appeared to be the last straw for France’s President Emmanuel Macron. Tired of vacuous Nato summits spent tiptoeing around Trump, Macron let loose in an interview with the Economist, saying that Nato is suffering from “brain death”.
Macron claimed that Europe does not recognize how dangerous Trump is to the alliance and that it’s time for Europe to take responsibility for its own security. And Macron is not the only leader who’s had enough.
In London, while sitting next to Trump, the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, pushed back against Trump’s criticism that allies don’t do enough, schooling the president about Canada’s significant contributions to transatlantic security.
Allied leaders could be seen on camera making fun of Trump, which seemed to be the cause of Trump’s precipitous departure.
But Nato’s problems are bigger than Trump, and no matter how much longer he’s in office, Nato members will have to contend with threats to the very nature of the alliance. Nato’s first out-of-area mission in Afghanistan has sputtered along without conclusion.
The Turkish president, Erdoğan, invaded Syrian territory which was being defended by three other NATO allies – the United States, Great Britain and France. Turkish and Hungarian leaders have gutted their democracies and warmed up to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin
In order to remain relevant, alliances must evolve, which NATO has done before: after the cold war NATO embraced new members, and after 9/11 it took on terrorism. Nato’s last “Strategic Concept” – the document outlining its priorities – was adopted in 2010.
To adapt to today’s world – a newly aggressive Russia, an unreliable US president, growing challenges from China and instability within the EU – NATO must evolve again.
