American action is now less predictable, and its leaders are less communicative and less reliably committed to the NATO structure that has governed European security for 75 years. Even if the U.S. doesn’t ultimately fulfill the president’s threats to leave the alliance, experts say NATO needs to prepare to go it alone.
“It has been the Russian foreign policy objective for 25 years to weaken NATO,” Jeff Rathke, who serves as president of the American-German Institute in Washington, said. “That has been a Russian aspiration since the time when Vladimir Putin came to power, and the United States’ actions now bring that closer to reality.”
“A lot of voices in Europe are saying, ‘Let’s just move away from the U.S. entirely. Let’s lock the door. Let’s think of our own stuff. Let’s not think about NATO. Let’s build a European alternative and just cut ties with the U.S.,’” Marta Prochwicz, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and the deputy head of the organization’s Warsaw office.
Washington Sun: Security Experts Say NATO Must Plan for a Future Without the United States