The editorial staff of Newsweek believes that US President Donald Trump has many tools at his disposal that would give him the opportunity to split the Alliance if he still decides to do so.
Points of attention
- Undermining trust, rather than formal withdrawal, could be a subtle yet effective way to weaken NATO from within.
- Public hints from Trump about defending only NATO countries meeting certain defense spending criteria may further strain the Alliance.
NATO is at risk
Experts believe that in order to effectively destroy the Alliance without officially withdrawing from it, Donald Trump's team may try to undermine trust in the bloc.
What is important to understand is that trust is at the heart of the Alliance's very existence.
David Blagden, Associate Professor of International Security and Strategy at the University of Exeter, UK, shared his opinion.
According to the latter, all that is really needed is for NATO countries to doubt America's commitment to Article 5, and for NATO's opponents to doubt it.
"I think it's not so much about the formal process of leaving the Alliance, but more about the doubts that are starting to creep in about whether the US will actually be there," Neil Melvin, director of international security at the Royal United Institute for Defense Studies think tank, said in a statement on this matter.
There is a high probability that Trump may publicly hint that the United States will only defend those NATO countries that spend what the administration considers sufficient on defense.
Such a demand from the White House could also lead to a split in the Alliance.
