What Does Trump Want From NATO? (Besides More Money)

Written by
Jonathan Stearns
Written by

Jonathan Stearns

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(Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has shaken seven decades of American defense policy. Trump maintains that most members of the military alliance connecting the U.S., Canada and Europe fail to pay their “fair share” for the common defense. (The U.S. bears the heaviest military costs.) He's gone so far as to raise questions about the U.S. commitment to the alliance's key doctrine that an armed attack against any member is considered an attack against all.

1. What's the point of NATO?

Since it was founded in 1949 to protect Europe against Soviet attack during the Cold War, NATO has expanded its role to include bombing Serb forces during the Bosnia and Kosovo wars of the 1990s, enforcing an arms embargo on Libya in 2011, helping Europe tackle a flood of Middle Eastern refugees that erupted in 2015, and stepping up cyber defense. In addition, since Russia's encroachment in Ukraine in 2014, the alliance has refocused on the military threat from Moscow, deploying multinational battle groups in eastern Europe to reassure allies there and upgrading its command structure for the first time since the end of the Cold War. All the while, NATO's membership has grown from 12 to 29 countries, with Montenegro joining in June 2017.

2. How is NATO funded?

Two ways. Countries make contributions based on their gross national income to finance NATO's own budget, which is 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) for 2019 and covers the alliance's headquarters, its integrated command and its own limited military capabilities. But most of NATO's capacity comes from the armed forces of member nations. In 2006, members set a “guideline” to spend at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense. In 2014, they agreed to “aim to move towards” the target by 2024.

3. What changes does Trump want?

He upended a July 2018 NATO summit by demanding that members meet the 2% level immediately and even broached the idea of doubling the target to 4%. He floated the idea of the U.S. “going it alone” if allies don't comply. In a subsequent press conference, Trump said he didn't think such a move was necessary and that “everyone's agreed to substantially up their commitment.”

4. Has the U.S. always spent more on defense?

Yes, but the imbalance has grown. Military spending increased in the U.S. following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and decreased in Europe after the Cold War ended in 1990 and again after the financial crisis broke out in 2008. Over the past 20 years, the U.S. share of defense spending by NATO members as a whole has risen to about 70% from 58%.

5. Do members owe money from past years?

No. Though Trump has said NATO allies that have failed to meet the 2% spending guideline in past years owe “vast sums” or “massive amounts” to NATO, the spending goal is not a legally binding commitment.

6. What do states that spend less than 2 percent say?

Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, which aims to boost its spending on defense to 1.5% of GDP by 2024, has insisted on looking beyond purely military expenditures. She argues that because development aid is vital to security, it should be included in contributions toward the common defense. Germany spent 0.7% of gross national income on such assistance in 2017, compared with 0.2% by the U.S., according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

7. Why the concern over the U.S. defending NATO partners?

During his 2016 election campaign, Trump alarmed U.S. allies in Europe by suggesting the U.S. commitment to defend fellow NATO countries should depend on whether their military spending was high enough. European nations seeking a reassurance on this point were disappointed at the May 2017 Brussels summit, where Trump refused to offer an explicit endorsement of NATO's collective-defense clause. Two weeks later, in a press conference in Washington, Trump said he was “absolutely” committed to the clause.

8. Why is the mutual-defense doctrine so important?

The principle, enshrined in Article 5 of the NATO treaty, enhances the credibility of the alliance's deterrence strategy by increasing the risks for any potential aggressor. More generally, the doctrine has symbolized an underlying partnership between North America and Europe based on shared political and economic values. With Russia challenging the security order in Europe, NATO's European members consider Article 5 to be as relevant as ever.

9. Has the clause been invoked?

Only once -- after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The alliance used Airborne Warning and Control System planes to help patrol the skies over the U.S. That was followed by ship monitoring in the Mediterranean Sea, participation in the war in Afghanistan, and the training of Iraqi soldiers.