Whether the question of the U.S. giving security guarantee’s to European states is valid, appropriate, crucial & necessary in the modern world of technological advances, or not? would be question that needs further investigation within it, not only from the past history but also from predictions and patterns drawn in the present and future.
For more than 70 years the United States has been committed to support and strengthen NATO allies. One of the most logical and genuinely reasons for the United states to such stance was the strategy of expansionism and the ideology of a global leader. Here comes the question in the modern world? What roles exactly does the U.S. play in the global arena? Is the United States still perceived as a global leader and especially under president Trump?
As Kaufman stated that the one individual that comes in to office and becomes president does have a big influence on how other countries perceive the United States.
The idea of cooperation and multilateralism is essential with no doubt and the alliance is important. But just like any other alliance it should be took. The United States doesn’t have to keep reaffirming every action it takes and goes back to consult NATO or the EU. However, what president Bush committed in Iraq was the worst foreign policy decision in history so far I agree with Kaufman and I do agree that the NATO states are frustrated and lost trust in the U.S because the strategy of “Us vs them” could easily imply on any country regardless of any kind of treaty or cooperation that aims for multilateralism.
I expected the part when the author draws the lines between the similarities in discussions regarding the European countries to have “other ties” that will be beneficial for them economically, politically and strategically. He even called the alliance between China and Germany a forged strategic relation. But the idea of getting China on their side to enhance relationships which will be beneficial to individual and common goals and less costly for the U.S to enhance security in Asia is a real sense and example of multilateralism, cooperation and diplomacy.
Fatema,
Your blog post subject is certainly very timely, given the erratic foreign policy of the current US administration. President Trump (and Secretary of State Pompeo) have gone out of their way to criticize long-standing allies, both within and outside of NATO, and then they seem surprised when these same countries do not support US policy positions! Certainly, if the COVID pandemic has shown us anything it is that it’s simply not viable for countries, even one as wealthy and powerful as the United States, to “go it alone.” Yet what did the president do in the midst of the pandemic, he withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization.
While I agree that, more than seventy years after the founding of NATO it makes sense to reassess the alliance’s purpose and operations, it is undeniable that most experts see a continuing, important need for the organization–if, for no other reason, than to counter the increasingly aggressive behavior of Russia.
–Professor Wallerstein