President Donald Trump’s frustration with NATO has reached a new peak. The latest rift within the alliance stems from the European response to the U.S. operation in Iran. This response saw Spain deny Washington access to key military bases and block U.S. military aircraft from using its airspace. France restricted overflight rights for military logistics tied to the conflict. Italy denied U.S. military aircraft bound for the Middle East permission to land at a base in Sicily. America’s closest ally, the United Kingdom, also restricted base usage and imposed conditions on missions launched from those bases.
For European leaders, these refusals are a domestic winner: the Iran war is deeply unpopular across the continent, and standing up to Washington plays well with voters. It should also be noted that Trump did not seek help from these allies before launching the war in late February. Yes, Trump’s complaint that European allies have freeloaded on American security guarantees has merit. But the United States has also oscillated between demanding greater burden sharing and resisting European strategic autonomy, leading to complaints on the continent.
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Whatever the political and blame game across the Atlantic, it is worth remembering that NATO is ultimately a defensive military alliance. It acts when a member is attacked and serves a foundational purpose of deterring Russian aggression in Europe. NATO did not, for example, assist its member Turkey in its military operations abroad as these were “wars of choice.” In contrast, it did invoke the alliance’s Article 5 mutual defense commitments for the first and only time after 9/11. This saw NATO members, some far more than others, sending forces to fight alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan.
Still, for decades, most member states underinvested in their militaries. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned that Europe cannot defend itself without U.S. support and would need to more than double current spending targets to do so. Yet the answer to the alliance’s challenges is not to withdraw from NATO altogether. Instead, Washington should relocate military assets to Poland and the Baltics, where commitment to the alliance runs deepest.
Notwithstanding its failings, NATO remains an achievement without historical precedent. It has maintained peace on a continent that experienced more than 2,000 years of near-continuous warfare. It has contained historic rivalries — Greece and Turkey, for example — in a framework that channels disputes away from armed conflict. And to understand why NATO matters to America, consider that Moscow has spent years exploiting political divisions within the organization, seeking to lure away members with low-cost energy deals or other means. It does so because it knows NATO works as a tool for American preeminence.
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The U.S. derives enormous strategic benefit from the alliance.
In an era of intensifying competition with both Russia and China, NATO protects Washington from a simultaneous confrontation on two fronts, a scenario that would stretch even American power to its limits. Dismantling this instrument would serve neither American interests nor global order.
