generalspeaking

Friday, November 08, 2019

NATO in the Shadow of a Protectionist American President

“What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO. You have no coordination whatsoever of strategic decision-making between the United States and its NATO allies. None. You have an uncoordinated aggressive action by another NATO ally, Turkey, in an area where our interests are at stake."
"[NATO] only works if the guarantor of last resort functions as such. I’d argue that we should reassess the reality of what NATO is in the light of the commitment of the United States."
"Look at what is happening in the world. Things that were unthinkable five years ago – to be wearing ourselves out over Brexit, to have Europe finding it so difficult to move forward, to have an American ally turning its back on us so quickly on strategic issues – nobody would have believed this possible."
"[Europe is on] the edge of a precipice. If we don’t wake up … there’s a considerable risk that in the long run we will disappear geopolitically, or at least that we will no longer be in control of our destiny. I believe that very deeply."
"You have partners together in the same part of the world, and you have no coordination whatsoever of strategic decision-making between the United States and its NATO allies. [The alliance] only works if the guarantor of last resort functions as such. I'd argue that we should reassess the reality of what NATO is in the light of the commitment of the United States. [The U.S.] shows signs of turning its back on us. [Trump] doesn't share our idea of the European project."
French President Emmanuel Macron

"[President Macron] used drastic words, that [were] not my view of cooperation in NATO."
"The French President has found a rather drastic word to express his view. This is not how I see the state of cooperation within NATO. I don't think such a sweeping judgement is appropriate.
"I don’t think that such sweeping judgements are necessary, even if we have problems and need to pull together."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel

"Any attempt to distance Europe from North America risks weakening the alliance -- the transatlantic bond -- but also [serves] to divide Europe. So therefore, we have to stand together."

"I welcome European unity. I welcome efforts to strengthen European defense. But European unity cannot replace transatlantic unity."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

No doubt whatever that it was inevitable that one world leader in NATO would express publicly what others in the organization would be thinking on an ongoing basis, and each time U.S. President Donald Trump issues one of his careless Twitter pronouncements or makes decisions contrary to the fortunes of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization upon which the mutual protection and commitment of member countries rely, and the Western world in general continues to have faith in, those nervous tics increase.

President Trump's outspoken contempt for most world bodies that don't include the commanding presence of a feared and hated dictator are by now notorious. Each time the man speaks his very particular brand of hostile perceptions a quiver of uncertainty and dire expectation shivers through the minds of world leaders whose nations are heavily dependent on the stability of the world order that the involvement of the United States of America more or less guarantees.

But for this president, far more so than for his predecessors, America's interests, reflecting his very own, rule the manner in which he sees his decision-making setting aside the inclusion of consideration for other nations, at the very time when solidarity in the face of a growing hard-line separation of purpose and intent emanates from nations such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and Turkey in the critical issue of the present world order.

This, at a time, when explosive events are taking place, with the deterioration of Venezuela, of South Sudan, of Syria and Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. And where ongoing threats of Islamist fanaticism hovers once again on the horizon in renewed commitments to violent jihad. Eastern Europe remains a victim of nervous tension in its uncertainty over Moscow's intentions, while Vladimir Putin is steadily engaged in re-inserting Russian influence once again in the Middle East to replace Trump's declaration that it was time for the combatant states to look after their bloodsoaked sand.

President Macron is certainly correct in his assessment of a worsening situation in Syria where the irascible Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ignored world condemnation to achieve his greater interest in destroying the autonomous region of Kurdistan. By not consulting NATO member-countries similarly involved in missions with the Kurdish militias engaged in focusing on the destruction of Islamic State terrorists before deciding to haul American troops out of the conflict, leaving the Kurdish YPG to fend for itself, Trump committed the ultimate betrayal.

The toxic mix of violent, threatening events, disabling any vestige of order and civilization in the world with growing numbers of refugees and an unstoppable migrant influx flooding Europe and beyond, the world is closing in on crisis conditions ultimately affecting all nations. The withdrawal of American commitment to NATO in particular, and other geographic regions by a protectionist president is warping already fraught situations. With America's abandonment of its European allies, they look for support toward Russia.

Angela Merkel's caustic eye on her French counterpart's declarations and her cautious optimism over NATO's future, as much as that of the European Union, rejects the sweeping judgements, speaking instead of shared problems "and [the] need to pull together". Time will certainly tell whose prognostications turn out to be the most accurate.

Labels: Disinterest, European Union, France, Germany, NATO, United States, Withdrawal