necessary

That world disappeared, however, after America’s defense dependents recovered economically. Unfortunately, both sides continued to support the US military dole. Members of Washington’s bipartisan foreign policy “Blob” preferred to dominate global and allied affairs, despite the policy’s significant cost. Allies preferred to focus on domestic development, including their burgeoning welfare states, leaving security to the US.

Eventually, the imbalance grew too great, and a succession of American officials pushed the Europeans, in particular, to do more, with only indifferent success. In 2011 Defense Secretary Robert Gates famously warned future American officials “may not consider the return on America’s investment in NATO worth the cost.”

Donald Trump seemed to be that person. Despite his rhetorical excess, though, the president did not make good on his threat to leave the alliance in either his first term or the first 18 months of his second term. Rather than negotiate a structured political and military withdrawal from NATO, leaving the Europeans to decide on their own security policy, he evidently prefers using America’s continuing presence to shake down allies economically, imposing tariffs, obstructing regulations, and forcing investment. For him, the military is more a mercantilist than a security tool, and it worked on Europeans who abhorred the cost of declaring independence from the US.

Now he is reversing that approach, turning mercantilism into a security tool, though in practice he is more likely to harm America’s international position by doing so. Trump has long targeted Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for rejecting NATO’s increasing spending standards, despite their manifold loopholes. Sánchez’s position is understandable: no one believes that Vladimir Putin’s legions will imminently approach the gates of Zaragoza, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, or Madrid. Moreover, Sánchez’s stand against US military and foreign policy, along with other high-profile progressive advocacy, has bolstered his popularity, a particularly important factor given the political misconduct