Can Europe Always Count on NATO?

For almost half a century NATO, which was set up in 1949 after the Second World War to provide security for the European continent and thwart the expansionist impulses of the USSR, played a protective role that was essentially underwritten by the USA. However, since the end of the Cold War and in the context of strategic changes by the USA (particularly the desire to rebalance its foreign policy effort towards Asia), the way the Atlantic Alliance is currently organized has become problematic. As Jean-François Drevet shows in this article, the expansion of the Alliance to include recent and future members of the EU (most of which have a real demand for security, but are not able to produce even minimal security themselves), increased tension over borders (Ukraine, the Mediterranean seaboard etc.) and internal dissent (particularly over the solidarity to be shown towards Turkey whose recent actions, particularly towards Russia, have embarrassed its partners) all raise the question of what the actual role of NATO in the defence of its members will be. Given current developments, an eventual US disengagement from NATO cannot be ruled out, potentially leaving the European Union to face its problems unaided. If that were to happen, the EU would be left seriously unprotected. Hence the increasingly evident need to reopen the frequently revisited but stalled issue of a European defence structure.