75 years after its founding.. America is wondering about its gains from NATO

47% of Americans support the need for their country to maintain its commitment to NATO (Reuters)

WASHINGTON

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Following Russia's attack on Ukrainian territory in February 2022, President Joe Biden repeatedly said that the United States "will defend every inch of NATO territory," warning Russia of facing dire consequences if it attacks a NATO member state.

Since the founding of NATO 75 years ago, the largest military bloc in the world has mainly played a deterrent role, with no direct clash between its countries and the Soviet Union - until the latter's collapse in 1991 - and Russia after it.

NATO has not activated its famous Article 5, which stipulates that any attack on any NATO country is considered an attack on all NATO countries and requires a military response, except once since its founding, and that was immediately after the United States was exposed to the attacks of September 11, 2001.

America's NATO allies then rushed to help the United States, and many of them later participated in the United States' war in Afghanistan.

Former President Donald Trump's skepticism about the alliance and its feasibility prompted a new question to be raised about Washington's interests in remaining in the alliance, at a time when it enjoys huge military capabilities that are unmatched by any of the other member states, individually or collectively.

NATO provides a cover of mutual protection and security for all its members (Anatolia)

Gains from NATO

Klaus Lares, professor of history and international affairs at the University of North Carolina and former German diplomat, presents three main benefits to the United States as a result of its membership in NATO.

NATO gives Washington reliable allies militarily and economically, and although the United States is a huge power, has the largest nuclear arsenal on Earth, and remains the largest economy in the world, its power becomes less without its allies in Europe.

NATO goes beyond the military field, as it has positive political and economic effects on the United States. For example, most Western countries buy their weapons and military equipment from the United States, which brought Washington’s total arms sales in 2023 to $158 billion.

The second benefit is that NATO provides a blanket of protection and mutual security for all its members, which helps explain why the vast majority of Central and Eastern European countries demanded to join NATO after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Although Russia has been fighting several wars with its neighbors in Moldova, Georgia, and finally Ukraine since 2022, Moscow has not risked attacking any of the neighboring NATO member states, as that would bring the entire alliance into war with Russia.

The third benefit is that NATO helps the United States become the most powerful country in the world, as Washington does not impose its military presence in Europe by force. Instead, its allies generally welcome American forces, and by joining NATO and accepting Washington’s military leadership, it gives countries NATO gives the United States unprecedented influence and power.

The Americans support NATO

The Gallup Institute conducted an opinion poll that included 1,016 people during the first half of last February, which showed the majority of Americans’ support for their country’s commitment to NATO.

47% of Americans supported the need to maintain their country’s current commitment to the alliance, while 20% of them indicated that support for the alliance should increase. At the same time, 16% of them believed that the United States should reduce its commitment to NATO, and only 12% preferred to withdraw. The United States is completely out of NATO.

Public opinion among Republicans who support the presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump was not affected by his anti-NATO proposal. Trump has previously stated that if he is elected president, he will not defend NATO allies against any Russian attack, if they fail to contribute sufficient funds to the alliance.

The Gallup poll showed that a majority of Republicans (53%) support maintaining the United States’ commitment to NATO, or increasing its commitment to it. At the same time, 26% of Republicans say that the United States should reduce its support for the alliance, and 16% of them want the United States to withdraw. From NATO.

Competition with China

Many American commentators accuse NATO of ignoring the greatest danger and challenge facing Washington, which is China, so the alliance and the Biden administration have taken practical steps to bridge this gap. In June 2022, just a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine, NATO issued a strategic document that, for the first time, described China as a strategic threat.

“The PRC’s stated ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security, and values,” the document said, adding that “the PRC’s malicious hybrid and cyber operations, confrontational rhetoric, and disinformation target allies, and harm coalition security.”

For its part, the National Security Strategy under President Biden, which was issued before the end of 2022, acknowledged the importance of NATO and pointed to the dual risks from Russia and China. She said: “America’s alliances and partnerships have played a critical role in our national security policy for 8 decades, and they must be deepened and modernized to do so in the future.”

It stated that “NATO responded with unity and strength to deter further Russian aggression in Europe, even as NATO also adopted a wide-ranging new agenda at the 2022 Madrid Summit, to confront various security challenges from the People’s Republic of China.”

Sumantra Maitra, an international affairs expert at the Center for Renewing America, a research center close to former President Donald Trump, warned Europe against NATO ignoring Chinese risks.

He said, "It is also unwise to expect NATO to bear any burden regarding China. European public opinion hates conflict with China."

He also pointed out that the implications for NATO, due to a possible conflict in the Taiwan Strait, are the need for European armies to refill the American military vacuum in the North Atlantic Ocean if the United States is forced to redeploy some of its forces in the Indian and Pacific Ocean region.

Maitra is unlikely to intervene directly in any future crisis or war with China over Taiwan.

Source: Al Jazeera