Do America’s allies matter anymore?
NATO leaders head to a critical summit in the Netherlands, as the US chooses to go it alone against Iran.
Donald Trump made clear Europe had no role to play in the Israel/Iran conflict, while giving the impression of a two-week grace period to agree some sort of deal with Tehran.
Less than 48 hours later, Trump ordered US air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, giving allies like the UK less than an hour’s notice.
That’s not escaped the attention of critical voices in the press around the world, with The Times asking how Keir Starmer got it “so badly wrong” and the Daily Mail even suggesting the Prime Minister hasn’t decided whose side he is on.
In Australia, the accusation is the same. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s response is criticised as “flat-footed,” a sign that the country’s relationship with the United States is “crumbling.”
Elsewhere, The Australian’s foreign editor (admittedly a man who would find fault with Albanese if he were handing out free kittens) claims “It is difficult to think of a time when Australia has been so inconsequential, so powerless, so much without influence.”
Much of this, of course, is the kind of hyperbole newspapers adopt to attack political enemies. But it speaks to a growing sense that those nations who think of themselves as America’s closest allies seem to have little or no influence.
That lack of regard doesn’t stop the US dictating terms — the focus of that NATO summit in the Netherlands is a pledge by more than 30 nations to boost defence spending to a record-breaking 5% of GDP — exactly what Trump has been demanding.
Most haven’t a clue how they will pay for it, but that’s a problem for another day. This week’s problem is getting through the summit without another Trump tantrum.
