NATO IS NOT “OBSOLETE”, THE NEW PRESIDENT-ELECT IS “OBSOLETE”

…New NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium

 

The European Union (EU), says they might have to stand without the United States during the Trump presidency.

 

It is amazing that the one organization, NATO, that was responsible for keeping Europe safe from the former Soviet Union, is being called “obsolete” by the new president-elect.

 

Prior to NATO, the separate European countries were required to all build up their own military defenses.  So, when any conflicts happened between these separate nations, they would many times go to war, and this occurred over and over for centuries.

 

Then we had the advent of the “Nuclear Age”.

 

Instead of every European nation building up a store house of nuclear devices, through the NATO members, it was agreed that the US and its allies would come to the aid of the other NATO members, should the Soviets threaten their sovereignty.

 

But at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, the European leaders are now grappling with the jolting reality of a President-elect, Donald Trump’s skepticism of the European Union (EU).  They are now saying that NATO might have to stand without the United States at their side during the Trump presidency.

 

It was astounding to these leaders, when an apparent breach in trans-Atlantic relations came after president-elect Trump, who had embraced anti-European Union supporters during his campaign, claimed that, “NATO’s current configuration is obsolete”.  Then, also after his victory, Trump remarked that the 28-nation European Union would eventually break apart and that he was totally indifferent to the EU's fate.

 

As only Donald Trump can do, he now expects us to all believe he has a strong US commitment to Europe’s defense. 

 

This non-politician doesn’t seem to understand what alarm bells he has been raising all across Europe. 

 

Europe will soon be dealing with national elections in Germany and France and the anti-immigrant, EU skeptic leaders could come into power, just as did Donald J. Trump.

 

Most of the mainstream leaders have already committed to working with Trump after his inauguration.  But they have also crossed their fingers when expressing hope that he will moderate his views once he takes office.  But his continued hard-line has created a stark realization in Europe that the EU may now have to live without the full backing of their oldest and strongest partner.

 

The European Union is responsible for much of the continent’s post-World War II prosperity, but its skeptics have attacked it in recent years as a dysfunctional bloc that undermines all the nations finances and security.  The full damage from a potential breakdown in transatlantic ties is so great, that it is hard to understanding what could be the final outcome. Trump doesn’t seem to understand that the US "guarantees" are what form the backbone of all European security.

 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the most realistic when she declared, “We will cooperate with him on all levels, of course,” as she told the reporters in Berlin. But she also said that all Europeans will need to take responsibility for themselves.  “We Europeans have our destiny in our own hands,” she said.

 

Trump just doesn’t seem to understand that the United States and the 500-million-people-strong European Union are also each other’s most important trade partners.

 

For decades, European nations and the United States have worked tightly together on issues of war, peace and each ones overall wealth.  But Trump appears skeptical and ignorant that the European Union has any connection to American security or economic growth.

 

Trump’s unrealistic comment pretty much says it all: “People want their own identity, so if you ask me, others, I believe others [nations] will leave the EU,” Trump said of the European Union in an interview with the Times of London and Germany’s Bild newspaper. He said he did not care about the EU’s future. “I don’t think it matters much for the United States,” he said.  “You look at the European Union, and it’s Germany. Basically a vehicle for Germany,” Trump said, meaning Germany had used the free-trade bloc to sell its goods to the disadvantage of others.  Obviously to Trump, regarding the EU, "ignorance is bliss".

 

Trump then just had to add that Merkel had made a “very catastrophic mistake” in opening Europe’s doors to migrants and refugees.

 

He then offered no special credit to European nations for being long-standing US allies.  He actually had the gall to say "he will trust Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, both alike” at the outset of his presidency.  “I will start off trusting both,” he said. “But let’s see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all.”

That’s a pretty juvenile approach for his dealing with a faithful European ally, and the long-time opposition nation that has attempted wreaking havoc in America’s national elections.

 

As he had done during the campaign, Trump continued to offer mixed messages about the nation’s NATO defense alliance, which is of course dominated by the United States.  He again called NATO “obsolete” and he said it is “very unfair to the United States that most nations are not meeting their voluntary defense spending commitments. With that being said, NATO is very important to me,” Trump said.  But Trump has no clue what the other NATO nations are contributing to NATO.

Of course, his new Russian best friend "Putin" just had to agree with the president-elect Trump, “that NATO is obsolete”.   What else could the president of a failing communist nation say about the organization that has kept both the Soviet Union and now Russia from messing with all the countries of western Europe.

 

The new anti-EU British leaders have also welcomed Trump’s willingness to negotiate a US/British trade deal in the wake of their nation’s departure from the EU.

 

But other than the Brits, for most of America’s allies, Trump’s attitude seriously “caused astonishment and excitement, not just in Brussels,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Brussels at NATO’s headquarters.  The German Foreign Minister was meeting with other European foreign ministers at a previously scheduled EU gathering.  And he was coming directly from a meeting with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.  Foreign Minister Steinmeier said “NATO had listened to Trump’s comments with serious concern.”

 

As important as NATO and the EU are to the US, the president-elect is the first American political leader since World War II not to support European integration.

 

The European Union has long been considered to be in the US interest, since it created a unified market for US businesses.  The US relationship with Europe provided a strong wall against communism during the Cold War and it helped quell the former bloody slaughters that cost US and European lives in the first half of the 20th century.  Apparently, that means nothing to Trump.

 

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the European Union eventually expanded eastward into formerly communist nations, a development that leaders there say helped bring rule of law and stability as they modernized their economies.

 

And the president-elect just seems to blow all of this off as he apparently says “he's the one that knows best”. 

 

Fortunately, most of Trump’s cabinet picks don’t seem to agree with their new potential boss.

 

As an example, James Mattis, the retired Marine general nominated to be Trump’s Defense Secretary, offered straightforward support for NATO and skepticism of Russia at his confirmation hearing last week.

 

But fortunately, many European leaders are standing firm with a positive attitude.  Per the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, “What we are looking for is a partnership based on common interests with the United States.  We always like to be in good company, but we determine our policies by ourselves.”

 

The back lash that occurred after the British voted to leave the EU was also very interesting.

 

Analysts have noted that after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, support for the EU in other nations seriously increased. They also wondered whether Trump’s frontal challenge to the bloc might have a similar effect.

 

But one analyst did say that if global instability rises as a result of Trump’s unpredictable policies, the stress could weigh heavily on the already taxed European Union.

 

One well-known US advocate of European unity was concerned about Europe’s ability to deal with the Trump tsunami.

 

As the European Union battles all those skeptical forces, “U.S. cheerleading and support has been welcomed,” outgoing US Ambassador to the EU, Anthony Gardner said last week. “If there isn’t someone like a Secretary of State John Kerry or an Obama . . . reminding people of the importance of the European Union, then there’s going to be a critical vacuum.” 

 

The elections in France are going to be a serious challenge for dealing with the anti-EU, anti-immigrant National Front party, whose leader, Marine Le Pen, is doing well in French opinion polls.  Trump has been a quiet supporter of Le Pen and she has lunched in the basement of Trump Tower last week.  This was in the company of a man who has served as an informal conduit for Trump’s contacts with Euro-skeptic European leaders. 

 

Of course, the Trump transition team has denied any support or of having a formal meeting with the French politician.

 

The current French in power are just stating the standard line that, “The best response is European unity,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. “As with the case of Brexit, the best way to defend Europe is to remain united. This is a bit of an invitation that we are making to Mr. Trump. To remain a bloc. Not to forget that the force of Europeans is in their unity.”

 

But another attitude to Trump’s latest EU declarations came from Luxembourg, where the nation’s top diplomat said: “He thought Trump was still operating in election campaign mode”.

 

Luxembourg’s foreign minister, Jean Asselborn has stated, “One must hope that the statements of candidate Trump starting Friday will go in a different direction.  If the Trump risks are summed up, it would be very destabilizing, which is not in the interest of America.”

 

Based on all this discussion, it is appearing that due to the feelings of the new president-elect, the relationship between the US and our European allies may go through the worst days of a struggling relationship since before World War II.

 

Seems like we are saying even more than usual, “God help us all”.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2017