No major war has ravaged Europe since 1945 because of the United States, aka NATO. Yet, the defense pact's 75th anniversary has passed without much fanfare. And there is quite a bit to celebrate.
Although the European Union claims that national sovereignty must disappear to preserve peace, the EU has no army to defend the continent. Like during the Cold War, also now it is the U.S. that does the heavy lifting in terms of defense. America's nuclear umbrella and reliable presence kept the Soviets out of Europe and the Europeans away from each other's throats for 45 years. It still does in the post-Cold War era.
The U.S. made a serious mistake when it withdrew from the Old Continent in the wake of the First World War. Our Western European allies failed to heed the wise councils of Gen. John Pershing, who headed the doughboys sent "over there" to save the day.
Pershing advised to turn down Germany's offers of armistice and, instead, take Berlin. If we don't take Berlin, the Germans will refuse to acknowledge they lost the war, he warned presciently. Then, the U.S. left for home, and the next 20 years in Europe were just an interlude before the global conflict recommenced again as The Second World War.
America had to liberate Western Europe again in 1944 and 1945. Unfortunately, the U.S. did not heed Gen. George Patton's proposal: First we take Berlin, and then Moscow. But when Hitler was kaput, the Americans did not abandon the Western part of the continent. They resolved to guard its liberty against Communism. Their unequivocal stance gave hope to hundreds of millions enslaved behind the Iron Curtain.
It was American blood, treasure, and determination that kept peace afterward. It also allowed the Western Europeans to rebuild, amass wealth, and enjoy a high standard of living. Skimping on defense, they were able to build their welfare states and, later, prepare the supranational architecture for the European Union. In essence, this was all done on our dime.
Meanwhile, our NATO allies continue to shortchange us as far as their military expenditures and military commitment. We correctly assume, in particular after Brexit, that we can count on the Brits. Otherwise, only Poland and Estonia contribute the required 3% of their national budgets, and they are ready to fight on our side unconditionally. The rest of the Intermarium countries, Hungary in particular, come close, even if they really cannot afford such financial outlays and try to lay low in case of troubles.
Despite their more than sufficient means, Western Europeans brazenly shirk their obligations to NATO. It is not just that they do not pay as much as they should; they also tout their avowed pacifism and take America's defense commitment for granted. It is easy to be a pacifist when the U.S. defends you.
However, as much as it hates to admit it, Europe needs America. Our mere presence guarantees that no outside power invades the Old Continent and that its inhabitants do not turn against one another. Simply put, we make sure Europe does not blow up from without or within. We maintain that the balance of power in Europe continues unmolested.
As the alliance's former Secretary General Lord Ismay put it in an immemorial one liner: "The objective of NATO is to keep the Russians out, the Germans down, and the Americans in." The priorities have not changed.
Some of the Europeans, except the Poles, Estonians, and a few others, feel constrained by our babysitting. This concerns Germany in particular. Tough. They lost both World Wars and graced us with both Communism and Nazism. Germany unleashed is the last thing Europe (or the U.S.) needs.
We must especially be wary of a love affair between Berlin and Moscow. For the last three hundred years it usually spelled a prelude to serious war. That is why the U.S. under Trump attempted to secure energy security for Europe to wean Germany off of Russia's gas and oil teat.
To that end, America has worked with the Intermarium countries to create an alternative energy hub or two there. Further, even currently Washington continues to oppose Nordstream-2, an underwater gas line from the Russian Federation to the Federal Republic, which would seal Europe's energy dependency.
The Germans have publicly claimed that they owe Russians that Nordstream-2 project because of the Nazi depredations in the Second World War. In that case, what do they owe Poland? Wasn't the devastation and body count far greater that Hitler left in his wake there than elsewhere? And what does Germany owe the United States for saving its western portion from Stalin and, later, protecting it during the Cold War?
There should be ticker tape parades galore in Berlin, Paris, and elsewhere to celebrate NATO and the United States. The Europeans need to get their priorities straight. Otherwise America's patience will run out and we shall up and go.
The problem is that our abandoning Europe courts another war, and, sooner or later, we will have to reengage with a much greater expenditure of blood and money then we should if we stay put. Hail America's NATO!
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz is Professor of History at the Institute of World Politics, a graduate school of statecraft in Washington D.C.; expert on East-Central Europe's Three Seas region; author, among others, of "Intermarium: The Land Between The Baltic and Black Seas." Read Marek Jan Chodakiewicz's Reports — More Here.
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