NATO Hangs in the Balance

The election of Donald Trump to the presidency given the fiery rhetoric he engaged in and the bold positions he staked out, sent shock waves around the world that engulfed America’s allies, including ones it is bound by treaty to defend. The countries of NATO felt the pressure as he insinuated that countries that did not fulfill their obligation to devote two percent of their GDP to defence could not count on the US defending them, and declared the alliance to be “obsolete and expensive” during the campaign. However, there was confusion and partial relief as Trump appeared to reverse his position when he declared that NATO was “no longer obsolete” since he was assured by the Alliance’s secretary general and other leaders that fighting terrorism would be a priority. His declarations were made despite the fact that NATO has long been involved in fighting terrorism, whether in deploying troops to Afghanistan as a response to the 9/11attacks, or the considerable sharing of intelligence that is facilitated by it. The NATO meeting on the 25th of May was the first important opportunity for the president to meet with fellow members’ heads of state and clarify where he stood in terms of the vision he had for the alliance as well as honouring his country’s commitments. In articulating his vision for the Alliance, Trump was vociferous in expressing his demands for an increase in members’ defence spending and the alliance’s involvement in counterterrorism and immigration, but rather quiet when it came to explicitly reaffirming a verbal commitment to collective defence.

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