But looking at the wilting of America’s influence and alliances, especially the weakening of NATO, solely through the lens of long-term Russian aspirations misses the bigger picture. Trump’s fulfillment of Kremlin aspirations also violates the central tenet of America’s foreign policy since 1945: The United States must stay actively involved to keep Europe stable. Trump instead intends to leave Europe to battle its history alone — a move that threatens the security of the continent, and our own. [...]
Generations of postwar American strategists imbibed this dogma, regardless of party or politics. “The history of the past two hundred years in Europe showed that Western Europe would tear itself to pieces” without outside supervision, Republican Secretary of State John Foster Dulles explained in the early 1950s. His Democratic successor, Dean Rusk, toed the same line. “Without the visible assurance of a sizeable American contingent,” he explained, “old frictions may revive, and Europe could become unstable once more.” Advisers to Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan all said the same. [...]
Trump is thus fueling the very forces that previous generations of American policymakers feared as much — if not more — than the Soviets, and the real causes of Europe’s historic inability to keep its own peace. Nationalism is on the rise. Britain voted to leave the European Union. France, Austria and the Netherlands nearly elected proud xenophobes. Poland and Hungary have. More ominously, Europeans are re-arming. Sweden has recently reintroduced military conscription. Norway expanded its own. The European Union announced plans for a new headquarters for military planning and coordination, outside of NATO control or integration.
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