A new transatlantic security bargain

Tomáš Valášek, Carnegie Europe (Belgium)
Given the history, it may be tempting to dismiss President Donald Trump’s on-and-off admonishments of NATO as inconsequential. But the alliance is not immune to changing political moods; it can and will wither when it stops serving its members’ interests. So a periodic reassessment is in order—particularly when a presence as disruptive as the new U.S. president arrives on the scene. European allies should respond to Trump in two ways: in the short term, focus on preventing the president from abandoning the alliance and, in the long term, prepare to assume a bigger role in defending the European continent.