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BRUSSELS – President Trump travels to Brussels on Wednesday at the NATO summit with a key argument: Allies must honor their commitments on defense spending.
Few policymakers would disagree that Europe should spend more on its own security, and many European diplomats shyly admit that they have relied too much on firepower for too long American to protect them. At the same time, voices across NATO are wondering if the fact that Trump is concentrating his efforts on the end result is to do more to hurt the alliance than to do it. help.
percent of its gross domestic product to its military. Yet the diplomats who negotiated this promise in 2014 say that it was never designed to become a weapon that could stop US protections for Europe – and they would not have it. maybe not accepted if they had envisioned a US president as a zero sum like Trump. [19659004Pendantcetempscertainsplanificateursmilitairessoulignentque2%n'estpasunnombremagiquequiassureunedéfenseforteetilsmettentengardecontreunedéfinitiontroprestrictivedesdépensesdedéfenseIlsdisentquedanscertainscasparexempleilestplussenséd'acheterdeswagonsdegrandecapacitéquedeschars
"I m & # 39; concerned that [2 percent] became a sticker that amplifies the & # 39; transactional approach that the & # 39; administration" said Douglas Lute, a retired three-star army general who, as the United States' ambassador to NATO, was the main advocate for President Obama within l & # 39; alliance. "This gives them an easy and easy-to-understand measure of transactional advantages and disadvantages.
[Ahead of summit, allies wonder if NATO will survive Trump]
NATO policymakers watched with increasing concern Trump play hard with his allies even as he praised his long-time rivals such as Russian President Vladimir Putin , that he expects to meet a few days after the NATO summit.
Last month, Trump sent letters to leaders of many NATO countries warning that continued investment of military resources by the United States while the allies are not sustainable. He asked the Pentagon to examine the impact of German troops "Germany, Norway, they are important allies for us, and yet we treat them as fathers," said Ben Hodges , which until December was the commander of the US Army forces.
As Trump was preparing to leave the White House on Tuesday, he again signaled that he was planning to put pressure on his allies in Brussels this week.
"The United States spends much more than any other ntry to protect them," he tweeted . "Not fair to the American taxpayer."
U.S. Defense spending accounted for 68.7% of NATO's total last year, reflecting the US's global ambitions and 3.57% of its GDP.
The 2% goal had long been a rule of thumb it's a formal commitment at a Wales summit that was held in 2014 in the shadow of the annexation of Crimea and the rise of the Islamic State in Russia
defense planners. of the 2014 summit, say that the figure has less to do with adequate protection of NATO than with a realistic goal that would increase defense spending, even if these expenditures remain well below the levels of the defense. During the Cold War
a judgment that if everyone went to 2%, then NATO would be fine, "said Adam Thomson, who was the British ambassador to the NATO in 2014 and was involved in the pressure to sign allies on the commitment. "It was a judgment on the level that could be politically at least somewhat believable."
"Nobody could not really expect the way Trump used it so unsophisticated, but that too Thomson said:
[‘Not fair to the U.S. taxpayer’: Trump takes another shot at NATO]
The officials of Donald Trump said the president needed to get the job done. use harsh language to pull NATO out of complacency and scare the all to spend more money on defense. They say that the US has also significantly increased European defense funding, almost doubling what was spent in President Barack Obama's last year
"NATO is really progressing, and it is made on the insistence of President Trump ". The US ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, told Fox News
on Sunday that NATO's only collective defense measures had been launched on behalf of the United States. United in the aftermath of the attacks of 11 September 2001. And they say that a stable and secure Europe offers a political and economic dividend to Washington
NATO should increase its overall defense spending 3.8% in 2018 – the fourth consecutive year's expense has increased. When Trump took office, only four of the 29 nations of NATO complied with the 2% guideline: the United States, Britain, Estonia and Greece. This year, four more are on the right track: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Romania. About two-thirds plan to commit to get there in 2024.
But these statistics mask large variations. Greece spent 2.36% of its GDP on defense last year, but much of that money is spent on pensions of its retired members, who have no defensive purpose. Most of his material is devoted to defense against Turkey, a member of NATO. France, meanwhile, has only spent 1.79% but is involved in military conflicts across Africa and the Middle East, including NATO.
NATO countries must devote at least 20% of their budget to the defense. equipment, not just wages. This subtlety, however, has often given up on Trump's rhetoric. The same is true of the spongy nature of the commitment itself: the leaders stated that they "would aim to get closer to the 2% guideline in a decade", a hedge put on a hedge
"Two percent" All a country's commitment to the alliance, "said Alexander Vershbow, who was NATO's deputy general secretary at the time when 39, commitment has been negotiated. "Not to say that no one should be released, but it is fair to consider broader measures."
NATO itself has a separate and classified list of military requirements tailored to each country's security. They do not always match the 2% spending requirement, suggesting that NATO itself thinks that the spending situation is more complicated than Trump recognizes. Some countries should spend more than 2% to meet the requirements. Others believe that spending is less important, according to planners
and that money spent on security – such as anti-terrorism funding for intelligence or police services – is not defense expense. requirements. Despite Trump's efforts to make the alliance do more to combat terrorism.
"Had we had more time before Wales, getting into some of these questions about what matters and what does not matter would make a lot of sense." said Lute, the former US ambassador, referring to the 2014 NATO summit.
[U.S. military leaders worry they may not arrive in time to fight the Russians]
Keeping the promise of spending, in the strict sense of the word, would require vast changes for the government. 39, one of the most powerful economies of NATO and the largest target of Trump's anger: Germany. On the basis of 2017 figures, Berlin is expected to increase defense spending to $ 76 billion a year, up from $ 47 billion at the present time. Military spending is generally unpopular among Germans, and the demands of the US president, extremely unpopular, make it even more difficult for Chancellor Angela Merkel to achieve good results in rising spending
"Honestly, I would not even know where The aircraft portfolios we would buy, "said Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel at the time, last year
Some diplomats of the NATO is taking a look at budget increases as the German army is not prepared for combat and its military helicopter pilots are struggling to find helicopters ready to work. many military planners believe that there might be better targets for the billions of Germany than the material.
Hodges, who spent a lot of time these last For many years to move the US military across Europe, he said he would inject money into infrastructure that could enhance NATO's ability to act quickly. "Europe needs more than German tanks." Europe needs German trains. "In fact, many diplomats say Trump's approach has made it more difficult to talk about what is necessary for the security of NATO more generally.
"The whole question of 2% is out of the realm where we can talk about it reasonably," said a top diplomat of the 39, NATO, under the guise of anonymity, so that the diplomat's country is not the next to Trump. "Reticle." It has become a dogma. You believe it or not. "
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