By Douglas Macgregor
It’s official. Europe volition shortly receive got its ain regular army and, presumably, its ain regional defense. At to the lowest degree that is the stated destination of French President Emmanuel Macron. Mr. Macron is restating a seat that German linguistic communication Chancellor Angela Merkel adopted about fourth dimension agone that, “We Europeans must actually convey our destiny into our ain hands.” Mr. Macron together with Ms. Merkel receive got a point. The fourth dimension to Europeanize NATO is long overdue. After all, the European Union’s economic scheme is to a greater extent than than 5 times every bit large every bit Russia’s.
Privately, NATO’s European armed forces elites are unenthusiastic. They refer to the dangers of “Macron’s disease.” In the minds of European armed forces elites, Mr. Macron together with Ms. Merkel are engaged inwards a unsafe game of self-deception because NATO’s command, control, communications, computers together with overhead intelligence, surveillance together with reconnaissance systems, (C4ISR), are only American.
Fortunately, in that place is a cure for Mr. Macron’s disease: President Trump should denote that, henceforth, the US volition no longer furnish a U.S. Four Star to serve every bit Supreme Commander Europe (SACEUR). It is fourth dimension to plough over responsibleness for the command of European defense forcefulness forces to a European Four Star selected past times the NATO Council. Let NATO collectively admit that the alliance is genuinely to a greater extent than European than American inwards the composition of its armed forces. In other words, unburden U.S. taxpayers from Europe’s defense, together with permit our prosperous European allies human foot their ain safety bill.
This policy alter volition forcefulness Europeans to invest tens of billions of euros over the side past times side decade to educate their ain C4ISR together with ready a credible regional defense forcefulness system. This approach volition undoubtedly hold upwardly supported past times a U.S. armed forces capability to surge every bit needed from a puddle of forces (air, set down together with sea) that is predominantly inwards the Western Hemisphere, but Europeans must start to defend themselves.
For fifty years, Washington has treated alter beyond America’s borders — alter inwards governments, borders, interests or merchandise relations that Washington did non initiate or advise — every bit something to hold upwardly resisted. The outcome inwards the Washington Swamp is an unstated, but institutional national safety strategy of beingness aggressive everywhere, all the time.
The final result is the global distribution of U.S. armed forces might from Kingdom of Norway to Nippon buttressed past times an endless listing of highly improbable warfighting scenarios that are used to justify massive defense forcefulness spending on an anachronistic armed forces construction amongst its roots inwards WWII together with the Cold War. This status is undesirable, unaffordable together with dangerous.
It is undesirable because the concluding fifty years of American armed forces assistance receive got converted keen nations that were i time Washington’s almost of import armed forces allies into armed forces dependencies of the United States. NATO is decomposing, inwards part, because Berlin, Paris, Rome together with London willingly consigned responsibleness for their nations’ defense forcefulness to Washington.
Most of Europe’s armed forces are boutique militaries designed for depression intensity conflict or peace-keeping operations. The contemporary German linguistic communication regular army — America’s almost strong together with capable Cold War armed forces partner on the European continent — is directly effectively irrelevant.
This is non surprising. The master copy national interests together with regional threats that gave NATO important together with operate are no longer shared across national lines. Germans practise non part the East Europeans’ fright of Russia. Greeks fright Turkey — directly a “paper ally only” within NATO — every bit good every bit the soft invasion of Sunni Islamist Arabs, non Russia.
It is unaffordable because both political parties consistently refused to heighten taxes to pay for America’s global defense forcefulness mission. High on debt together with seemingly intoxicated amongst armed forces power, Washington’s interventionist, bipartisan unusual together with defense forcefulness policymakers (i.e. the Swamp) added debt-financed global armed forces might to debt-financed consumption amongst the final result that past times 2023, the involvement payment to service the national debt volition belike transcend the size of the U.S. national defense forcefulness budget.
Finally, lxx years later on WWII, it is also self-evident that post-industrial warfare volition non require the conversion of mortal sector manufacturing to federal command or the mobilization of millions of American citizens inwards uniform. The proliferation, make together with lethality of precision-guided weapon systems linked to overhead ISR (ISR-STRIKE) demand a key shift inwards U.S. national safety strategy away from defending forrard — garrisoning unusual territory — at enormous risk to U.S. Forces together with unnecessary expense to the American people.
Mr. Trump accepts the burden of preserving the peace on the strategic degree past times maintaining the world’s almost powerful armed forces establishment, but Mr. Trump knows that Washington’s involvement inwards skilful relations amongst European States must non salvage Europeans from the obligation to adequately defend their ain countries. The president volition non permit a weak ally to plunge the US into a state of war that the American people postulate non fight.
In 1914, when the British intervened on the European Continent to back upwardly the French together with the Russians against Germany together with Austria-Hungary, the British were far likewise confident of their armed forces superiority. They grossly underestimated their German linguistic communication opponent. By the war’s halt inwards 1918, British national might was spent. United Kingdom of Great Britain together with Northern Ireland permanently lost its might to shape the international scheme to its advantage. To paraphrase Arnold J. Toynbee, “The British Empire died from suicide, non from murder.”
President Trump’s demand that Europeans invest inwards their ain defenses reflects his decision to avoid the error that London made; to brand a repetition of 1914 impossible. Thus, if Mr. Trump declines to furnish about other Four Star to command the NATO armed forces alliance, President Macron together with Chancellor Merkel should welcome the chance to halt their dependence on Washington together with shape their ain destinies.
• Douglas Macgregor, a retired U.S. Army colonel, is a decorated combat veteran together with the writer of 5 books. His latest is “Margin of Victory” (Naval Institute Press, 2016).
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