\n
Donald Trump represents a greater threat to Nato than Vladimir Putin, one of the alliance\u2019s former commanders has said in a blistering attack on Washington\u2019s foreign policy.<\/p>\n
The US president has sparked alarm after a series of aggressive moves this year including the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, threats to invade Greenland and the controversial claim that European troops in Afghanistan \u201cwere not on the front lines\u201d.<\/p>\n
General Sir Richard Shirreff, Nato\u2019s former deputy supreme allied commander for Europe, said that Trump\u2019s threat of military intervention in Greenland was \u201cabsolutely not bluster\u201d even after the US president pledged not to use force to seize the island, which is a territory of Nato member Denmark.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to take him literally. We have to assume with Trump, as with Putin, that the worst case will happen,\u201d he told The Independent. <\/em>\u201cTrump is the greater threat [to Nato] if you want to make the comparison. It\u2019s Trump who gets the prize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nVladimir Putin and Donald Trump shake hands in their meeting last year (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Shirreff, who is now chair of the Healix International Security and Risk Advisory Board, said that Trump had \u201cdestroyed the international order\u201d in the first year of his second term. \u201cHe is also on the way to destroying the one alliance that has guaranteed transatlantic security for 77 years,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The former British Army officer said that Trump had presented Putin with two of his most cherished foreign policy objectives \u201con a plate\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has decoupled America from European security and he is effectively holding Nato below the waterline because of his threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shirreff said that, while Putin poses an \u201cexistential threat\u201d to Europe, his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had united Nato and \u201cbrought the international order closer together\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\nBrigadier Richard Shirreff, commanding officer of the 7th Armoured Brigade in Kosovo during its conflict in the late 1990s (PA)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Trump, meanwhile, has turned the global rules-based system \u201cinto a dead duck\u201d, he added. \u201cClearly Putin threatened it massively but Trump has attacked the one alliance which grants our security.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the US, Trump has been ridiculed for what critics call a \u201cTACO\u201d approach to policy \u2013 meaning Trump Always Chickens Out. He has recently threatened military intervention in both Greenland and Iran \u2013 before appearing to back off and seek diplomatic solutions.<\/p>\n
But Shirreff said that the threats alone, particularly to Greenland, are enough to cause serious damage to Washington\u2019s alliances in Nato.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lead nation of the alliance has threatened the territorial integrity of another member of an alliance… how do you move on and rebuild trust? Nobody will trust Trump again, and we\u2019ve got another three years of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response to the instability, Shirreff advised Nato to \u201cEuropeanise\u201d and seek strategic and military independence from the US, particularly for the remainder of Trump\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n\n\nDonald Trump backed down from his threats to Greenland after Davos, but Shirreff said the threat alone is bad enough (Getty)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Other experts have disagreed with Shirreff\u2019s conclusion over which leader poses a greater threat to Nato.<\/p>\n
Jon B Alterman, chair in global security and geostrategy at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies agreed that Putin\u2019s war has had \u201ca unifying effect\u201d on Nato, but argued that Trump was more \u201copen to persuasion\u201d by Nato allies.<\/p>\n
He said Trump\u2019s foreign policy and attacks on Nato reflected concerns held by many Americans about the role of the US abroad. Earlier this month, Trump claimed he had \u201csaved Nato\u201d in a post on Truth Social.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an old American complaint,\u201d Alterman told The Independent<\/em>. \u201cEuropean states are now looking at alternative arrangements and these conversations were absolutely not happening a year ago. The international order does need to rethink its response, it’s been a very one sided relationship for some.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\nTrump speaks with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Gabriel A Gim\u00e9nez Roche, associate professor of economics and finance at NEOMA Business School said that unpopularity in the polls could serve as a check on Trump\u2019s unfettered global ambitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump\u2019s confrontational stance toward Europe lacks strong support among the American electorate,\u201d he says. \u201cPolls consistently show skepticism toward antagonising allies, annexation rhetoric, and escalating trade conflicts \u2013 a sentiment that could carry electoral consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Putin could benefit from the uncertainty by default. \u201cIf neither European firms nor American voters benefit, the answer is troubling. The primary beneficiary appears to be Vladimir Putin, whose strategic interests are served by a distracted US, a divided transatlantic relationship, and a Europe forced to reassess its dependence on Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n
A White House spokesperson told The Independent<\/em>: \u201cPresident Trump has done more for Nato than anyone. America\u2019s contributions to Nato dwarf that of other countries, and his success in delivering a 5 per cent spending pledge from Nato allies is helping Europe take greater responsibility for its own defense.<\/p>\n\u201cThe United States is the only Nato partner who can protect Greenland, and the President is advancing Nato interests in doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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