Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen will haunt NATO’s 75th birthday party – The Economist
Try our new AI-powered search
beta
AT HIS FIRST summit with European leaders in 2021, after years of upheaval under Donald Trump, Joe Biden exulted: “America is back.” To which Emmanuel Macron of France asked: “For how long?” The question will resonate more loudly than ever as NATO leaders meet in Washington on July 9th-11th. Mr Biden is limping behind Mr Trump in the race for the White House. Mr Macron himself is being overwhelmed by a populist wave. And the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is languishing in the polls. Sir Keir Starmer, set to become Britain’s new prime minister this week, may feel he is joining NATO’s last supper, not its 75th birthday party.
It was all supposed to be very different: a celebration of the world’s most successful alliance, created in 1949 in the early days of the cold war. Its longevity has defied naysayers for decades. And its purpose has been bitterly re-affirmed by Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine. Yet NATO again lives in dread for its future. Partly this is owing to external threats, but mainly it is because of the internal convulsions that will result if NATO-sceptics such as Mr Trump and Marine Le Pen, leader of the hard-right National Rally, come to power next year and in 2027, respectively.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Hardly a celebration”
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Deadly heat is increasingly the norm, not an exception to it
Will rich countries welcome them the way they did Chinese students?
Big powers are preparing for wartime sabotage
Deadly heat is increasingly the norm, not an exception to it
Will rich countries welcome them the way they did Chinese students?
Big powers are preparing for wartime sabotage
Too often politicians tout awful solutions for helping tenants
The world’s atomic watchdog fears a terrifying regional arms race
But China’s bullying of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines risks an explosion
Published since September 1843 to take part in “a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress.”
To enhance your experience and ensure our website runs smoothly, we use cookies and similar technologies.
Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2024. All rights reserved.