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United States
January 17, 2025, 12:08 PM ’A new NATO deal for America’. More than 60 senior trans-Atlantic defense leaders have outlined a new NATO deal for the United States. In exchange for a significant European defense buildup, the United States would continue to deploy troops in Europe at about the current level. U.S. reserve forces that were once earmarked for a conflict in Europe would be able, if necessary, to shift their attention more to Asia. The European allies on their own must by 2030 collectively provide at least half of all the capabilities designated for NATO’s defense in Europe. This share should rise to two-thirds by 2035. These minimum requirements would ’dictate defense spending at a level well above 3 percent of GDP’. The proposed charter suggests the creation of two European shield corps forward-deployed in Poland and Romania, backed up by four reserve European war-fighting corps. The four new reserve corps would be used to quickly transform the current Allied Reaction Force into an Allied Heavy Mobile Force. Europe will need to produce more so-called enablers, such as strategic airlift, air-to-air refueling, and operational intelligence. The United States would agree to permanently station fully ready units in Europe, including the U.S. Army’s V Corps, the Third Air Force, and the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet, along with Marine Corps and special operations forces units. To ensure smooth military operations, they would be complemented by cyberdefense, integrated air and missile defenses, and efforts to remove impediments to military mobility. NATO’s nuclear deterrence also needs to be strengthened, including broader nuclear-sharing arrangements and greater nuclear cooperation between Britain and France. ’The NATO-Russia Founding Act should be set aside for now’. The charter endorses creating a defense, security, and resilience bank, which has been under study by the NATO International Staff since 2019. Loans and loan guarantees would be made to NATO members and their defense industries. The charter proposes ways to significantly accelerate Europe’s ability to execute defense plans already developed for the alliance recently by the supreme allied commander Europe. It is now being circulated informally to European governments and the incoming Trump team. The charter was formally presented to senior NATO officials in Brussels last week. The upcoming June NATO Summit in The Hague would be the right place for alliance leaders ’to implement’ the ideas contained in Atlantic Charter 2025. European GDP growth averaging less than 1 percent in 2024 will make it difficult for many countries to increase defense spending without deep cuts elsewhere. (Source: Foreign Policy)
by Binnendijk, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, former senior director for defense policy at the U.S. National Security Council, vice president of the National Defense University, legislative director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee;
Vershbow, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, senior advisor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House, former U.S. ambassador to NATO and Russia, assistant defense secretary, and NATO deputy secretary-general.
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