NATO: Why the Alliance Between Europe and America is Falling Apart - by John Walcott

When German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas suggested during a June 15 video conference between 28 European Union diplomats and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the U.S. and Europe push Israel and the Palestinians to revive peace talks, Pompeo was diplomatic, refusing to accept or reject the proposal.

The same was true of nearly every other item on the 90-minute call’s agenda, according to U.S. and European officials familiar with the session, who said the disappointing meeting was symptomatic of the steady erosion of the 74-year-old transatlantic alliance since President Donald Trump came to office. Since the end of World War II, the U.S. and its European allies have been united in their commitment to cooperation and democracy, despite repeated dustups. Now, in less than four years of Trump’s America First foreign policy, the allies have become divided on issues that require an urgent and unified response, ranging from China and coronavirus to the Middle East, arms control, and trade. “The EU-U.S. relationship doesn’t exist anymore,” says Heather Conley of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Pompeo did nothing to address — much less repair — the damage during the scheduled summit, said the U.S. and European officials, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid, as one American put it, “making a bad situation worse.” According to one European diplomat, Pompeo “mailed it in, and the return address was the White House.”

Indeed, it was Trump who set the tone of the meeting, surprising European allies as the meeting began with his plan to slash the number of U.S. troops in Germany, which the Washington deploys to deter Russia and project force in the Middle East and Africa. Trump said he was making the cut because Germany isn’t paying its fair share of European defense costs.

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Why the Alliance Between Europe and America is Falling Apart | Time