When we make a promise, our integrity is on the line. A man is no more than his word, right? Especially when the promise made is part of a mutual agreement. We promise to do X and you promise to do Y. And if we don’t live up to our promise, then we lack honor and integrity. If you then insist that we honor our promise and we refuse, well then our virtue is further diminished. We demean ourselves. All of which brings us to the President of the European Union, Jean-Claude Juncker. It’s time that NATO nations keep their defense spending commitments. Instead, President Juncker insists that American taxpayers foot the bill. And go into further debt to do so.
NATO Defense Commitments
NATO guidelines mandate that member nations shall spend 2% of their GDP on defense. Yet, for 2015 only five of the 28 NATO member states met this obligation, led by the United States. Greece, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Estonia also kept their promises. Yes, even Greece, whose economy is in a shambles. Hats off to the Greeks.
There are a lot of broken promises here. Spain spends less than 1% of its GDP on defense. Canada and Italy are at 1%. The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark are at 2.2%. Turkey is at 1.7%. France is at 1.8%. The list goes on.
Both President Trump and Hillary Clinton stated throughout the American election campaign that European nations must honor their financial commitment to NATO. And yet, most of them don’t, and aren’t even close.
Germany, for example, spends only 1.2% of its GDP on defense. Its military power includes only 44 attack helicopters, no bombers, no aircraft carriers, and no destroyers. Its entire air force consists of just 676 total aircraft. We could go on. Germany is grossly deficient in its military preparedness and in meeting its military obligations. It is far from alone across Europe. Isn’t it time that NATO nations satisfied their NATO commitments?
Military Preparedness is Essential
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg appreciates the need for military preparedness. As he noted last year “the world is a more dangerous place than just a few years ago.” NATO acknowledges that it is over-reliant on the United States for almost all of its essential military capabilities. Yet, nation-members are unwilling to do anything about it.
Yet, President Juncker refuses to push his EU members to meet their NATO obligations. More incredibly, the flippant Mr. Juncker has the audacity to insist that the EU must not succumb to U.S. demands that it do so. “It has been the American message for many, many years. I am very much against letting ourselves be pushed into this,” he said. You mean, pushed into satisfying your own promises. We think we’re being served a little dose of hypocrisy.
Even more amazingly, part of his “justification” for the refusal of his home-country Germany’s meeting its obligation is that Germany would no longer have a budget surplus! As if deficit spending would have any deleterious effect on Germany. And Germany’s approach to spending is a major contributor to political discontent in Europe. But all of that’s a discussion for another day.
Mr. Juncker’s amazing logic is this. The U.S. should continue to deficit spend so that his beloved Germany can avoid it. Now that’s a man who honors an obligation.
It’s Time That NATO Nations Meet Their Obligations
President Juncker’s broader rationalization for why countries can avoid their defense spending obligation incorporates a “modern stability policy.” He somehow concludes that European spend on development and humanitarian aid is equivalent to assuring military readiness. He ignores, of course, that the Americans do the same thing. It’s well past the time that NATO nations keep their promises.
As he put it, “modern politics cannot just be about raising defense spending.” As if his claim has any relation to the point we started with. If you make a defense spending commitment, then you keep it. And don’t ask your friends to keep theirs if you won’t keep yours. Not to mention, of course, that the United States subsidizes each of the other 23 NATO members who refuse to honor their commitment.
The United States has every right to insist that NATO nations keep their defense promises. Stop playing the American taxpayer for a fool. If you make a promise, keep it. If you break your word, accept the consequences.
