{"id":40549,"date":"2020-11-26T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2020\/11\/26\/more-autonomous-allies-are-better-allies\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:19:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:19:53","slug":"more-autonomous-allies-are-better-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2020\/11\/26\/more-autonomous-allies-are-better-allies\/","title":{"rendered":"More autonomous allies are better allies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You can\u2019t help but feel that most of Europe\u2019s leaders are relieved U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s term in office is coming to an end. From trade to defense spending, Trump was a different kind of president \u2014 one more likely to excoriate NATO allies for pinching pennies on their military budgets<\/a> than extol the importance of the NATO alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With President-elect Joe Biden<\/a> preparing to enter the White House in two months, there will be an urge for European leaders to turn the clock to the pre-2016 status quo. As the most powerful country in NATO by far, the United States can\u2019t allow that urge to set in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While one can certainly disagree with Trump\u2019s methods, he was right to reprimand Europe for not taking its defense responsibilities seriously enough. Trump may have used harsh words in making his point, but the point itself is legitimate: It is unacceptable for a wealthy continent with a $15.5 trillion gross domestic product<\/a> to purposely sit back and rely on the U.S. for its security needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Trump accurately diagnosed the problem, his prescriptions left much to be desired. The Trump administration\u2019s rhetorical lashings of Europe didn\u2019t translate into policy. Over the last four years, U.S. foreign policy in Europe has been an extension of the previous three decades. As much as Trump knocked European governments for being passive on their own security, he increased U.S. investment in the continent\u2019s defense. The European Deterrence Initiative grew during Trump\u2019s presidency from $3.4 billion<\/a> in the last year of the Obama administration to $4.5 billion<\/a> in this year\u2019s Defense Department budget request. In fiscal 2019, the amount reached an astounding $6.5 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the previous administration, the Trump White House continued to surge U.S. troops into the Baltics<\/a> for periodic military exercises \u2014 training activities that antagonized Russia and undermined the very pragmatic working relationship with Moscow that Trump claimed to want. The Trump administration just signed a deal<\/a> with Warsaw that would increase the U.S. troop presence on Polish soil to 5,500 and add new U.S. military facilities \u2014 including a division headquarters and an unmanned aircraft squadron \u2014 to NATO\u2019s eastern flank. Even the White House\u2019s planned troop withdrawal from Germany is less than meets the eye; of the 12,000 troops scheduled to depart, nearly half will be reassigned to other bases in Europe (Biden will almost certainly overturn this order<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\t