Transatlantic Relations Beyond NATO’s 70th Anniversary

NATO’s 70th birthday was prolifically analyzed by pundits and academics, including me. While commentators were filling columns and airwaves with mostly, insistently positive interpretations of the alliance’s endurance, most politicians were aggressively mute on the topic. To the relief of NATO’s supporters, the subtle celebrations did not present any opportunities for fireworks, such as the dressing down that U.S. President Donald Trump gave his fellow leaders at NATO headquarters in May 2017. It helped that the heads of government of the member states were not invited to mark the occasion in Washington, D.C. All this careful management to ensure that the alliance does not break while Trump is at the helm (at least not in 2019), leads me to suppose that its future is in more danger than we realize.