Could a Donald Trump presidency be the last nail in NATO’s coffin? “NATO is an alliance showing multiple signs of a terminal condition,” writes Ted Galen Carpenter, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Trump “would be almost certain to demand major reforms, and it is not out of the realm of possibility that he would even seek a U.S. withdrawal.”
The founding principle of Article 5—the heart of the North Atlantic Treaty—is that of collective self-defense: “an armed attack on one or more (members) shall be considered an attack on all.”
In an interview with the NYT, Mr. Trump makes it clear that he would decide to render aid only if the members in question have “fulfilled their obligations to us. … If we decide we have to defend the United States, we can always deploy” from American soil, adding, “and it will be a lot less expensive.”
Read more from Mr. Carpenter here.
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