The ‘Right’ View by Francis P. Sempa
NATO Farewell
“Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence therefore it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.” George Washington’s words were true in 1796. And they are true today. It is time for the United States to say farewell to NATO.
Throughout history, political and military alliances among nations have always been temporary—they form when countries share interests and share potential enemies. In the two world wars of the 20th century, the United States allied with Russia (and the Soviet Union), but waged Cold War against Soviet Russia for 45 years after the Second World War. Germany was our enemy in both of those world wars, but it was our ally (at least the western half of Germany) during the Cold War. The United States supported China during the Second World War against Japan, but during the first two decades of the Cold War, Japan was our ally against China. During the early years of the Cold War, China allied with the Soviet Union against the United States, but in the 1970s and 1980s, China was a de facto ally of the United States against Soviet Russia.
History supports Lord Palmerston’s dictum that nations have no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests. The usefulness to the United States of the NATO alliance must be viewed in that light. Being a member of NATO helped the United States win the Cold War. NATO was formed to prevent the Soviet Union from dominating the Eurasian landmass. It was the great British geopolitical thinker Sir Halford Mackinder who wrote that effective political command of Eurasia could lead to a world empire. The principal threat to the pluralism of Eurasia during the Cold War was the Soviet Union. But the Soviet empire collapsed in 1989-91. NATO’s mission was completed. Yet, instead of dissolving after victory in the Cold War, NATO expanded—it doubled in size over the next three decades even as the threat in Europe receded.
The European members of NATO and Canada have never pulled their weight in NATO. Instead of an alliance, NATO became a protectorate—the United States protected NATO members from potential Soviet aggression because during the Cold War it was in our interest to do so. NATO’s first Supreme Commander, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, in 1951 said that if American troops were still in Europe in 10 years, NATO would be a failure. Nearly 80 years later, American troops are still there, even though the European members of NATO have combined economies and populations that dwarf Russia’s. France and the United Kingdom have nuclear weapons, and France’s president recently offered to extend the French nuclear umbrella to other European nations.
The current U.S. war against Iran has revealed that George Washington’s words quoted at the beginning of this article are as true today as when he wrote them in the late 18th century. France, Spain, Italy, and for a time the UK denied the United States use of NATO bases located on their soil, making it more hazardous for our brave airmen to complete their missions in this war. No NATO ally has joined the United States in attempting to free the Persian Gulf from Iran’s clutches, despite the fact that Europe heavily relies on Persian Gulf energy sources, while we do not. It is time for the United States to say farewell to NATO, so that we can focus our limited resources in meeting the real threat to our security in the Indo-Pacific. Europe can take care of itself.
Francis P. Sempa is the author of the books “Geopolitics: From the Cold War to the 21st Century” and “America’s Global Role.” He is a contributing editor to “The American Spectator” and writes a regular column for “Real Clear Defense.”
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT NECESSARILY THE VIEW OF ALLOTSEGO AND ITS AFFILIATES.
The lunatic right have been calling for the US to get out of NATO (and the UN) since the 1950’s. The premise is that the US will save money and can focus on domestic issues – like healthcare, deficit reduction, infrastructure, etc. The reality is that, without such defensive alliances, the US takes on the responsibility of being The World’s Policeman, or in the case of Iran and Iraq, Israel’s Bodyguard – without recompense from Israel. Instead of the America First, the US taxpayer now bears the entire cost of blockading the Straits of Hormuz – turning MAGA into MIGA – Make Israel Great Again. While impoverishing the US taxpayer.
Are you serious?!?!?! But while you’re wanting us to bid farewell to NATO, don’t forget to include our worthless “ally,” Israel.
By cloaking his arguments in specious historical comparisons to Washington Sempa conveniently ignores the present reality of the US starting a war with a country at the behest of and on behalf of another country, namely Israel. Which the Secretary of Defense justifies as a “holy war.” Unauthorized by Congress. There will be some beneficiaries of this boondoggle but it won’t be the American taxpayer, the deficit, healthcare, or energy prices. This is just the opposite of “America First”