June 14, 2024
NATO’s Missing Pillar
The Alliance Needs a More Powerful Europe
As war rages in Ukraine and the U.S. presidential campaign heats up, NATO leaders are grappling with how to prepare the alliance for all possible outcomes. The German and Danish defense ministers have warned that Russia could attack NATO allies “within five years.” Conflict could come sooner if Russia achieves a breakthrough on the battlefield in Ukraine. And by the end of the year, former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has urged Russian leaders to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO members who “don’t pay up,” referring to the alliance’s spending target, could be the president-elect. Meanwhile, whoever occupies the White House will continue to shift U.S. resources to the Indo-Pacific. The United States’ force posture in Europe will recede. The only question is whether that happens gradually or suddenly.
Transatlantic security is built on two pillars: U.S. power and European power. Should the United States falter in its commitment to NATO or be stretched too thinly between theaters, Europe would bear the burden of protecting the continent. As of now, however, Europe is not prepared for that responsibility. Although European governments have been increasing their investments in defense and assistance to Ukraine, some European members of NATO still fall short of the alliance’s defense spending targets. The impressive amount of equipment and ammunition that European countries have given to Ukraine has also depleted some of their own weapons stocks.
It is commonly assumed that NATO was built on U.S. power, but in fact the commitment to collective security emerged in Europe first.
Strengthening the European pillar of NATO is the clear answer to the continent’s security problem. Yet for 25 years, the United States has been reluctant to support a larger European role within the alliance. Even as Washington urged its European allies to spend more on defense, U.S. leaders were loath to surrender the reins of transatlantic security. It is now time for that mindset to change. When allied leaders meet in Washington for NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in July, they should commit to fortifying European defense. Europe needs to invest more money to improve its military capabilities and combat power, and to get better at coordinating the efforts of individual countries. The United States must encourage such a transformation, not get in its way—and the European Union should help, too. Without a stronger European pillar of NATO, Russia will continue to threaten transatlantic security and the United States will be unable to focus its resources on China.
Read the full article from Foreign Affairs.
More from CNAS
-
Will Europe Send Combat Forces to Ukraine?
Commentary
Any idea that Europe could deter Russia from breaking a cease-fire and renewing its attack with the presence of a light peacekeeping force is fantasy....
By Franz-Stefan Gady
-
Israel Strikes Gaza as Efforts for a Truce Intensify; Trump Envoy to Visit Ukraine
Video
Jim Townsend, an adjunct senior fellow in the CNAS Transatlantic Security Program, joins to discuss reports that President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy to Ukraine intends to vis...
By Jim Townsend
-
Putin’s Point of No Return
Commentary
The United States and Europe must invest in resisting Russia now or pay a far greater cost later....
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Michael Kofman
-
What Can Europe do in Syria?
Podcast
After 54 years of brutal rule in Syria, the al-Assad family’s reign came to an end last week. Following 13 years of devastating civil war, which saw over a million refugees fl...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
