NATO leaders are gathering in Washington, D.C., this week amid global conflict and rising tensions from Ukraine to the Taiwan Strait.
But it’s the political future of the alliance’s most powerful member, the US, that will be among the core focus of discussions.
Following his disastrous debate performance against former US President Donald Trump on June 28, President Joe Biden’s political future is in question just months before the November election.
NATO faces growing threats
European governments have been discussing how to “Trump-proof” NATO. One official told The Associated Press the mood ahead of the summit was “gloomy.”
The 23-member alliance was formed during the Cold War as a bulwark against Soviet aggression. Under President Vladimir Putin, it faces the most potent threat from Russia in decades.
The alliance is handing money and weapons to Ukraine to defend against the Russian invasion, with leaders believing that if Ukraine is defeated, Putin could move on to Europe in a matter of years.
While Biden has been a staunch defender of NATO and has handed Ukraine billions of dollars to help it defend itself against the Russian invasion, Trump, who is now surging in polls, has questioned both US commitment to NATO and to helping Ukraine defend its territory.
During Trump’s four years in office, he has accused NATO members of freeloading off the US, threatened to withdraw from the organization, promoted baseless conspiracy theories about Ukraine, and repeatedly praised Putin.
After decades of unbroken US backing for European security, Trump’s presidency threw NATO into turmoil.
And on the campaign trail, he’s offered, at best, ambivalent commitments to NATO and to Ukraine.
Moves to ‘Trump-proof’ NATO
It has prompted some European leaders, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, to call for greater strategic autonomy for Europe to reduce its dependence on US wealth and military power.
The US Congress also moved to safeguard the US’s NATO commitment, passing legislation requiring presidents to have Congress’ backing to withdraw from the alliance.
Trump, if reelected, could bypass this by cutting off NATO funding and military aid.
According to The Wall Street Journal, NATO members are expected to announce a range of new measures to “Trump-proof” NATO this week, including taking the lead in coordinating the training and equipping of Ukrainian forces.
And while NATO members have boosted their spending in the wake of the Russian invasion — with nearly all members meeting their 2% of GDP defense spending goal — a lack of US support would leave a huge hole.
In the first few months of the year, there was a stark warning of what losing US support could mean for Ukraine.
As Trump-supporting Republicans blocked a US aid bill, Ukraine’s military came perilously close to collapse as they ran out of ammunition on parts of the front line. Ukraine’s European allies were unable to make up the shortfall.
The prospect of a second Trump term means that NATO members are once again asking hard questions about the alliance’s future.
Read the full article here
