The Economist Blames Trump For Europe’s Weakness, But Europe Should Blame Itself
The Decline
NATO members are encouraged to allocate two percent of GDP to defense spending. According to NATO’s 2023 secretary general report, the U.S. spent more than three percent of its GDP on defense and accounted for 67 percent of NATO’s total defense spending that year. According to the report, most other NATO members spend smaller shares of their GDP on defense than the U.S., and many have not even reached two percent.When European countries make low commitments to defense, they should not be shocked when America — across the Atlantic Ocean, thousands of miles away — suggests reducing its involvement in Europe and asks them to increase defense contributions to five percent of GDP, as Trump did recently in Davos, Switzerland.
The Economist essentially admits Europe doesn’t know how to “wield hard power” — then almost immediately complains “ts leaders have been excluded from peace talks between the White House and the Kremlin.”
With many European countries barely contributing two percent or under two percent of their GDP to defense, why are they now complaining about not getting a seat at the negotiating table?
The illustration for The Economist’s article rings true, but not in the way apparently intended. It shows Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin left alone at a large table, surrounded by vacant seats. If NATO members contributed to their own defense as much as America has — or took meaningful steps to help end the Russia-Ukraine conflict — perhaps they would be sitting at the negotiating table instead of the kids’ table.
https://x.com/TheEconomist/status/1892558500145861089/photo/1