Would Europe Be Better Off Without NATO?

Even discussing the idea of NATO ceasing to link the USA into European security is heretical in some quarters. When Edward Stringer and I published our Foreign Affairs article a few months ago wondering what a NATO without the USA would look like and warning European states that they seriously needed to consider this—we received a great deal of push back (and from some very senior people).

The anger directed at the piece had a few elements. There was fear that what we were saying might make it politically more easy for the USA to pull out of NATO (which I have to say was on one hand complimentary—assuming that Edward and I could have political impact in a US election—which is also, shall we say, batshit crazy). Overall, though, there was an element of incredulity that we would be thinking about something that could be so disastrous for Europe; that the idea of Europe defending itself was so outlandish and scary that it was best for everyone not to think about it.

Europe should just close its eyes, have a sip of its excellent wine, enjoy its history and culture, retire early, enjoy its social benefits and somehow, someway, the world will let it be; an oasis of social democracy in an increasingly dangerous world.

Well, this is nonsense. Europe cannot simply pretend the world will let it be, that Putin’s Russia, Trump’s USA, Xi’s China will somehow overlook what is still almost 20% of the world’s economy. The world is changing, and the whole purpose of NATO is very much under challenge. Indeed, there is a real worry now that far from making Europe secure, NATO membership will now be used against European interest.