2024-02-12 16:59:55
► Can Donald Trump destroy NATO?
By declaring, during an electoral rally, Saturday February 10 in South Carolina, to be ready to “ encourage ” Russians ” to do what they want » faced with NATO member states who do not sufficiently finance their own defense, Donald Trump has thrown the future of the Atlantic Alliance into disarray. His statements are part of a long history of criticism and contempt for America’s historic allies.
In 2018, then President of the United States, he repeatedly raised the possibility of the United States withdrawing from NATO. Aware of the danger that a potential re-election of the Republican leader would pose to American commitments, Congress approved, at the end of December 2023, a bill aimed at preventing any president from unilaterally withdrawing the United States from NATO without Senate approval. by qualified majority.
According to Alexandra De Hoop Scheffer, vice-president for geopolitical issues at the German Marshall Fund, Donald Trump is not in a position to destroy the Atlantic Alliance. However, his provocative announcements reveal his stated desire to “ destabilize international alliances ». « By discussing the principle of solidarity enshrined in Article 5 of the founding treaty of NATO, he questions the aspect of predictability specific to any defense alliance. », assures the expert.
► Does the United States have an interest in weakening NATO?
In a press release published on Sunday February 11, Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, reacted to the comments of the former tenant of the White House, suggesting that the world’s leading military power would be the first affected if the order of the Atlantic Alliance was to falter. “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the United States,” he insisted.
A vision shared by Alexandra De Hoop Scheffer for whom the presidential candidate is incapable of measuring the benefits that the United States derives from its participation in NATO. “ Donald Trump remains stuck in a transactional vision of international alliances, he only sees what the Alliance costs his country », she analyzes.
He notably forgets that the collective defense clause that he so criticizes has only been used once since 1949: after the attacks of September 11, 2001 committed by Al-Qaeda on American soil. This allowed the United States to benefit from Alliance support to conduct counter-terrorism operations in its airspace and in the Mediterranean.
The former president also seems to neglect the economic opportunities that the Atlantic Alliance offers to the American arms market. As Alexandra De Hoop Scheffer recalls: “ Europeans primarily buy American military equipment “. Purchases which have intensified since the start of the war in Ukraine and the emergence of the Russian threat.
► How do the former president’s statements serve him electorally?
The isolationist posture of the Republican candidate is nothing new. It purposely serves his electoral project and the America First line on which he has based his meteoric political rise since 2015. By suggesting that countries which do not participate enough in the expenses of the Atlantic Alliance could not count on the protection of the States -United, Donald Trump addresses an America tired of globalism.
For Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, « European countries must remain united to continue to keep NATO alive » beyond the rhetoric of candidate Donald Trump, of which she recalls that it is customary for this type of provocations intended above all “ to make people react ».
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