By John Ubaldi
Contributor, In Homeland Security

Europe is deeply alarmed at President Trump’s withering attacks on NATO and the transatlantic relationship. The various NATO countries of Europe are seriously contemplating readjusting their dependence on the U.S. as a strategic counterweight against a resurgent Russia.

With all of Trump’s attacks on NATO, European allies have few viable alternatives to protect themselves against Russia or any other potential adversary.

Before the NATO summit began earlier this month, Trump scolded European leaders and German Chancellor Angela Markel in particular. He blamed those leaders for not spending the agreed-upon two percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense quickly enough. As a result, the U.S. continues to spend the most of any country in the alliance.

Just days ago, Trump called the European Union a “foe.” He even expressed reservations about defending European allies, which he believed were living under the security umbrella of the United States. However, administration officials have tried to clarify his statements by saying they were not meant to weaken the U.S.-EU alliance, but rather to strengthen it.

Despite His Criticism, Trump Supports NATO

Many military experts have brushed aside the rhetoric and have mentioned that during the NATO summit in Brussels, Trump condemned Russia’s seizure of Crimea in 2014. He also voiced support for the alliance as the bedrock of mutual defense and reiterated that the core tenet of the alliance is Article Five, which states that an “attack against one ally will be regarded as an attack against us all.”

The fear in Europe is that the U.S. will begin removing forces from the continent, even though American troops continue their regular tour rotations in eastern Europe. But that hasn’t silenced Trump’s critics.

“We can no longer fully rely on the White House,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday, expressing a position echoed by other senior European officials and diplomats. “The first clear consequence can only be that we need to align ourselves even more closely in Europe,” Maas added.

President Trump is not the first U.S. leader to criticize Europe. Every president since Kennedy has wanted NATO countries to do more for their own defense.

President Kennedy Scolds NATO for Doing Too Little on Its Defense

Over 55 years ago, President Kennedy scolded Europe over its lack of defense spending. In a television interview in December 1962, Kennedy remarked, “The United States is more than doing its part.…Now what we are saying is that rich Western Europe must do its part, and I hope it will.”

A month later, Kennedy expanded on that statement at a National Security Council meeting. He noted, “We cannot continue to pay for the military protection of Europe while the NATO states are not paying their fair share and living off the ‘fat of the land.’ We have been very generous to Europe and it is now time for us to look out for ourselves, knowing full well that the Europeans will not do anything for us simply because we have in the past helped them…We should consider very hard the narrower interests of the United States.”

Obama Administration’s Secretary of Defense Calls Out Europe

Before stepping down, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates in the Obama administration admonished Europe for not doing more and for relying far too much on the United States for its security needs.

As Gates said, “The blunt reality is that Congress and the American public have dwindling appetite and patience to spend 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 defense.”

In his farewell address, Gates seemed to be peering into the future. He noted, “Indeed, if current trends in the decline of European defense capabilities are not halted and reversed, future U.S. political leaders – those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me – may not consider the return on America’s investment in NATO worth the cost.”

President Obama Criticizes Europe’s Lack of Defense Spending

President Barack Obama also called out our European allies. He said they were “free riders,” expecting the U.S. to do the heavy lifting as it related to the Libyan intervention and other areas.

The focus of Trump’s NATO summit was to force the European partners to pay more for their own defense at the agreed-upon two percent of their GDP. But what was not covered is how and where those countries are allocating their defense resources.

German Military is Non-Deployable for Military Operations

Germany, Trump’s loudest antagonist, has a parliamentary independent commissioner, Hans-Peter Bartels, for the country’s armed forces. Bartels has said that for all practical purposes, the German military is virtually “not deployable for collective defense” at the present time. He stated in a recent interview that Germany was unprepared for a large-scale conflict or even any of the currently ongoing small-scale operations.

Lack of Focus on Where Defense Dollars Should Be Spent

The European summit focused far too much on increasing defense spending, instead of on how those resources are spent. Military analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported that most European countries will still fall far short of reaching the two percent goal in the near future.

Moreover, many NATO countries that are increasing their spending are still spending less in current dollars than they did in 2010. They need to compensate for years of underspending and failing to reshape their forces to meet new challenges from Russia, extremism and terrorism.

The European countries have steadily taken too large a “peace dividend” since the break-up of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact in 1991. They reduced their forces, decreased their readiness and failed to modernize their military services at the needed levels.

Without US, Could Europe Respond Militarily? 

Without American support, it appears unlikely that Europe would be able to respond to Russian aggression in the Baltics. The military services of the alliance nations have difficulty moving beyond their existing borders and are severely dependent on the United States for support.

How would Europe respond if Iran blocked oil shipments from the Persian Gulf region? Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, backed President Hassan Rouhani’s suggestion to do just that.

Remember, Europe is far more dependent on Middle Eastern oil than the United States. The only country capable of re-opening the Strait of Hormuz is the United States.

Europe criticizes the U.S., but it needs America to maintain its security. Europe may want to go its own way, but its path forward is not that easy.