How Brain Dead Is Nato?

According to French president Emmanuel Macron, the answer is yes. In an Economist interview that sent shockwaves across Europe, the French leader called the venerable alliance “brain dead.” Reacting to the Trump administration’s decision to pull out of Syria, regardless of the effect on its allies, Macron issued a stark warning. If Europe doesn’t start to think of itself as a global power, he said, “We will no longer be in control of our destiny.”

Reactions from Eastern European leaders, wary of Moscow’s designs on their territory, came fast and furious. Estonian foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu told Politico that there are “no alternatives to NATO,” and that European countries are “unable to protect their borders without transatlantic ties.” NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg also pushed back on Macron’s comments after a meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel, saying that “NATO is strong.”

Tough as they are, Macron’s words are based on a clear-eyed assessment of a United States that is no longer willing to bear the cost of a free-riding Europe. But whatever the accuracy of the diagnosis, what cure does he suggest?

“His goal is a European Army, meaning that the European Union should have a common foreign and defense policy,” said political scientist and longtime Mishpacha contributor Jean-Yves Camus. “There are already a number of coordinated military training and field operations, as well as an EU ‘Common Security and Defence Policy,’ but until now everything military was under the authority of member states.”