Johann
Silver Member
- Nov 6, 2015
- 620
- 142
- 90
Trump has signaled that he is going to rethink our policy towards NATO -- particularly towards those states that are not paying their fair share of defense spending. Those that do not pay their fair share, may not get the article 9 guarantee under the NATO agreement that the U.S. would intervene should they be attacked.
the U.S. military has for many decades, dating back to the beginning of the Cold War, paid the vast majority of the cost for protecting western Europe and the free world against the threat of communism. Trillions have been spent over the last few decades building a huge military industrial complex and keeping it funded. While it is great that we have an incredibly strong military able to deal with any threat that could potentially or conceivably face us in the 21st century, i do see a string of truth in what Trump has said.
After all, Germany spends ~1.2% of their GDP on defense. an enormous under spending by a country that could easily match Russian military spending, considering the size of their economy. Russian GDP is ~1.2 Trillion. Germany has a GDP of 3.5 Trillion. If Germany just reached the NATO minimum of 2% of GDP on defense, they could match Russia pretty effortlessly. Russia spends 5.4% of GDP on defense.
As you can see by this chart, defense spending in the U.S.(the world's largest economy) is making up for the lack of spending in (very wealthy) parts of Europe. I think pushing for more defense spending from some of these countries makes sense. Most eastern european states are pretty close to the ~2% mark, but some fall just short of that.
Japan spends about 1% on it's military, i think it is fair to demand that they double that number.
Trump may wish to recognize the annexation of Crimea, demanding other concessions in return. Perhaps he will work out a new yalta agreement, some have suggested. Giving Russia her 'sphere of influence' in the former soviet states. This could cause long-term instability.
Trump has already hinted that he is rethinking the one-china policy. reapproaching Taiwan as a country instead of treating it like a breakaway province may be a good bargaining chip, or a very dangerous ploy that could preticipate a Chinese invasion.
I think we're going down a new path, and we have to be careful to push our allies to be more involved in defense, but we have to make sure we don't embolden China and Russia.
the U.S. military has for many decades, dating back to the beginning of the Cold War, paid the vast majority of the cost for protecting western Europe and the free world against the threat of communism. Trillions have been spent over the last few decades building a huge military industrial complex and keeping it funded. While it is great that we have an incredibly strong military able to deal with any threat that could potentially or conceivably face us in the 21st century, i do see a string of truth in what Trump has said.
After all, Germany spends ~1.2% of their GDP on defense. an enormous under spending by a country that could easily match Russian military spending, considering the size of their economy. Russian GDP is ~1.2 Trillion. Germany has a GDP of 3.5 Trillion. If Germany just reached the NATO minimum of 2% of GDP on defense, they could match Russia pretty effortlessly. Russia spends 5.4% of GDP on defense.
As you can see by this chart, defense spending in the U.S.(the world's largest economy) is making up for the lack of spending in (very wealthy) parts of Europe. I think pushing for more defense spending from some of these countries makes sense. Most eastern european states are pretty close to the ~2% mark, but some fall just short of that.
Japan spends about 1% on it's military, i think it is fair to demand that they double that number.
Trump may wish to recognize the annexation of Crimea, demanding other concessions in return. Perhaps he will work out a new yalta agreement, some have suggested. Giving Russia her 'sphere of influence' in the former soviet states. This could cause long-term instability.
Trump has already hinted that he is rethinking the one-china policy. reapproaching Taiwan as a country instead of treating it like a breakaway province may be a good bargaining chip, or a very dangerous ploy that could preticipate a Chinese invasion.
I think we're going down a new path, and we have to be careful to push our allies to be more involved in defense, but we have to make sure we don't embolden China and Russia.
