Quote:
Originally Posted by Thor
I know for example Iceland could not fulfill 2% of GDP to a military since we don't have one.
But the US would never let Iceland not have a base, its in their defense interests to keep NATO in Iceland.
But its certainly silly that Germany and France are not paying their share, these are 2 strong economic powers.
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Here's some facts behind this argument. The 2% target was an arbitrary number proposed in 2006 in fears of a Russian build up. This was right before the economic crash and austerity programs all around Europe.
Here's how that spending actually looks.
Spending has changed for many reasons. Austerity and changing economies are a big reason. Reduced threat is another. The Americans see Russian as this looming menace, because the Americans need an enemy to keep the industrial military complex churning away and sucking the tax payers dry. Some of the Europeans do not see Russia as that same risk, and it has caused budgets to be adjusted accordingly.
And then changes in spending.
http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2...charts/116008/
Most important in all of this is the spending of other countries that can be defined as existential threats. Russia is the only truly significant geographically related threat, and they are considered a moderate threat in the greater scheme of things. Russia is projected to spend $69.2B on defense in 2017. This was an increase on the $52B they spent in 2015. The non-American NATO nations spent the following in 2015 (most are scheduled to spend more in 2017).
Albania - $.155B
Belgium - $4.9B
Bulgaria - $.797B
Canada - $17.2B
Croatia - $.9B
Czech Republic - $2.1B
Denmark - $4.13B
Estonia - $.546B
France - $49.7B
Germany - $47.1B
Greece - $6.1B
Hungary - $1.225B
Iceland - $0
Italy - $28.5B
Latvia - $.341B
Lithuania - $.566B
Luxembourg - $.362B
Netherlands - $10.467B
Norway - $7.377B
Poland - $12.603B
Portugal - $4.38B
Romania - $2.98B
Slovakia - $1.164B
Slovenia - $.489B
Spain - $16.929B
Turkey - $17.669B
United Kingdom - $59.73B
Total non-American NATO spending: $309,441B or almost six times as much as the Russians are spending. When you add in the American spending ($595B) NATO spends over 17 times what Russia spends on defense. Spending is obviously stacked up on the NATO side of the ledger. The Americans are demanding an arms race start within NATO membership. Russia can’t compete, and with article 5, it would be stupid to make aggressions toward another NATO member. Also, since the vast majority of Europe are NATO members there is no other existential geographic threat.
If anything European countries are recognizing the changing face of the threat matrix and not spending money on weapons they may never have reason to use. European nations are recognizing that the greatest threats to their nations come in the form of terrorism, cyber attack, and espionage. Increases in NATO spending does not address those particular concerns. Trump may be right in one regard, NATO is outdated, but only in dealing with the current threats facing nations. NATO is still very healthy and capable, and I can see why the other leaders would scoff at Trump’s comments. Demanding massive increases in spending only benefits the nations where weapons are purchased from. Oh, the number one nation on that list? The United States.