Who Defends Europe? Time to Get Real on Sharing the Burden

President Trump clearly feels Europeans must do more for their own defence. He is not alone among Americans. Many think the US has got a bad deal. So how far will Trump go to put America First?

America’s European Allies say they aim to increase their defence spending to 2% of national GDP by 2024. But how many of them mean it?

Defence burdensharing is a toxic battleground in the United States’ new relationship with Europe. It will dominate when President Trump eventually meets NATO and the EU in Brussels. And the worse US-Europe relations get, the more sour the issue will become unless all sides grow more realistic about what they give and what they get in Europe’s defence.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: European defence: the year ahead http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-defence-the-year-ahead/

ESO: Background information: EU defence, Brexit and Trump: the good, the bad and the ugly http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-defence-brexit-and-trump-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

Carnegie Europe: Strategic Europe, 14.02.17: NATO’s Red Herring http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/67986

The Economist, 16.02.17: Military spending by NATO members. Does America contribute more than its fair share? http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/02/daily-chart-11

ECFR: Commentary, 28.02.16: European defence and the two per cent mantra http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_european_defence_and_the_two_per_cent_mantra

Defense News, 15.03.18: Results are in: Here's how much NATO allies spent on defense in 2017 https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/03/15/results-are-in-heres-how-much-nato-allies-spent-on-defense-in-2017/

Defense News, 10.07.18: What NATO’s burden-sharing history teaches us https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nato-priorities/2018/07/09/what-natos-burden-sharing-history-teaches-us/

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