May 31, 2017
It's Long Past Time for Our NATO Allies to Meet Their Defense-Spending Commitments
Chancellor Angela Merkel, campaigning at a Munich beer garden this Memorial Day weekend, certainly delighted American citizens as they paused to remember their sacred war dead, including the 236,000 men who died in Europe’s 20th-century wars. “The times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days,” Merkel said. “We Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands.” Although Merkel meekly attempted to walk her initial statement back in the face of American complaints, she clearly intended it as a forceful response to the tongue-lashing the American president, Donald J. Trump, gave alliance members regarding their low levels of defense spending during their meeting at NATO’s new headquarters in Brussels last week. Such a statement by the German chancellor would normally be viewed with concern by members of the American foreign-policy and national-security establishments, who view the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a cornerstone of the post-war global order. But coming from Merkel, it was the height of arrogance.
Read more at National Review.
More from CNAS
-
The Outlook for Ukraine in 2023
Podcast
In the latest installment of our “New Year” series, we take stock of where things stand in Ukraine as we head into 2023. Over the past couple of months, the lines of territori...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Michael Kofman & Lawrence D. Freedman
-
Germany Agrees to Send Leopard Tanks to Ukraine
Podcast
Adjunct Senior Fellow Jeffrey Edmonds joins Here & Now's Peter O'Dowd to discuss Germany's decision to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Listen to the full interview from WBUR....
By Jeffrey Edmonds
-
Jim Townsend on Ukraine Russia Conflict & Military Aid from NATO via Tanks
Podcast
Russia’s spring offensive could come out of Belarus, explains Jim Townsend, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO. Listen to the interview and more from...
By Jim Townsend
-
How Finnish and Swedish NATO Accession Could Shape the Future Russian Threat
Reports
About the Transatlantic Forum on Russia This policy brief is a product of the CNAS Transatlantic Forum on Russia, an initiative designed to spur coordination between the Unite...
By Nicholas Lokker, Jim Townsend, Heli Hautala & Andrea Kendall-Taylor
