Nato needs to pay up, Trump should not rub it in

US President Donald Trump lecturing Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Germany being beholden to Russia came as a surprise on Wednesday. A new flank was opened by the US president in his row with Europe. Trump’s latest outburst was something his European hosts didn’t see coming. “Is he on Russia’s side or still on ours?” is the question that will weigh on their minds. Yes, Germany relies heavily on Moscow for its gas needs, but Trump is in his element when he inflates figures — he claimed it to be 70 per cent. The chummy relationship between the two transatlantic partners is clearly in peril, or may be finished. Experts love to play on the “common set of liberal ideals” that have been the framework of a strategic and military partnership against the then Soviet Union. A security umbrella provided by the US hung over Western Europe even as the Iron Curtain went up. The Cold War decades that followed after the end of World War II was about ideology and the West’s often illogical fear about the spread of communism that bordered on paranoia. Communism, as the world knew it back then, is in retreat today, and the former USSR has been disbanded. Russia has transformed into a pseudo-communist and capitalist country under President Vladimir Putin. Europe has nothing to fear from the “expansionist” ideology of yore but should be wary of a surge in religious extremism and nationalism sweeping the continent.

Politically, liberal leaders like Angela Merkel of Germany have been weakened by this nationalistic shift and Trump is striking a soft, vulnerable spot, playing to European fears. Previous American presidents had privately complained about Europe’s failure to pay its share for defence; Trump is merely articulating this view while playing to his home base on this visit. Why spend American dollars defending an alliance that has not fought a war with the USSR or Russia in 70 years? Nato had deterrence, critics might say, but it is also true that it heavily weaponised Europe to fight imaginary conflicts. Perhaps, it’s time the bloc takes matters into its own hands, or waits for another American president to replace Trump — not exactly the liberal thing to do, but it certainly is practical.