Last time out I mentioned that the primary purpose of President Obama’s recent stops in the UK, France and Poland was to reassure that America’s longstanding alliance with Europe was still very important to him. But at the same time, America is also questioning Europe’s commitment to this longstanding alliance.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who is retiring at the end of this month, used his final trip to meet with his Nato counterparts in Brussels. And judging by his public remarks after two days of intense and critical private meetings with Nato representatives, it seems his intention was to take some of America’s European allies to the proverbial woodshed.
Secretary Gates used the recent Nato airstrikes on Libya to drive home his point that America’s allies are not doing their fair share. He noted that fewer than half of all Nato allies are engaged in Libya, and fewer than a third are involved in airstrikes - this despite of the fact that Nato ministers voted unanimously to launch their airstrikes to protect Libyan civilians from Col Gaddafi. As a result, Gates said: “The mightiest military alliance in history is only 11 weeks into an operation against a poorly armed regime in a sparsely populated country; yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the US, once more, to make up the difference.”
Make no mistake, Secretary Gates’ remarks were not just another airing of private grievances by a soon to be retired American government official. His comments were a very accurate reflection of President Obama’s feelings, as well as those of American voters. After all, the President and Congress are under increasing pressure to cut defence spending as part of a larger plan to rein in America’s budget deficit.
Secretary Gates noted that while America’s defence spending had doubled during the past decade, Europe’s total spend had fallen by 15 per cent. He then warned Nato that the American people and the US Congress have a “dwindling appetite and patience” for spending “increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources to be serious and capable partners in their own defence”.
The main purpose of Secretary Gates’s trip, however, was to discuss plans for America’s and Nato’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, and here he complimented Germany, France, Canada and the UK for increasing their troop commitments in line with America’s increase of military forces. But he still noted that many Nato members rely on the US to provide helicopters to evacuate their wounded, yet place restrictions on where their forces can be deployed and if they can be used in combat, despite pleas from America and other Nato allies for greater involvement.
Nor is America alone in its thinking that many Nato allies are not carrying their own weight. Nato ministers from Canada, France and the UK also expressed their support for Secretary Gates’ critiques of those members seen as not doing their part. It appears that some like having the security blanket that being a member of Nato provides, but they are simply ‘free riders’ because they are unwilling to pay their share of the costs of membership.
Unfortunately for America, I don’t think the Secretary Gates’ blunt assessments will have much effect. Too many of our Nato allies have become complacent about defence issues ever since the Iron Curtain was lifted. So as long as they do not feel any eminent security threats, I think they will continue to enjoy their free ride at the expense of France, Canada, the UK and the US.
Charles Laffiteau is a US Republican from Dallas, Texas who is pursuing a PhD in International Relations and lectures on Contemporary US Business & Society at DCU
