{"id":57610,"date":"2019-02-15T17:20:09","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T17:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/15\/natos-internal-rifts-emerge-as-powerful-subtext-at-munich-forum\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:14:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:14:03","slug":"natos-internal-rifts-emerge-as-powerful-subtext-at-munich-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/munich-security-conference\/2019\/02\/15\/natos-internal-rifts-emerge-as-powerful-subtext-at-munich-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO\u2019s internal rifts emerge as powerful subtext at Munich forum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MUNICH \u2014 Germany\u2019s defense minister has urged fellow NATO leaders to speak with one voice in their approach to ongoing crises, bringing to the forefront the simmering problem of diverging ideas threatening to split the alliance from within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOf course, NATO is about cash, capabilities and contributions,\u201d Ursula von der Leyen said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also about dignity, decency and dependability. Only if we can unify those aspects can we preserve NATO\u2019s cohesion and inner strength.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her comments may be meant partly to mask the fact that Germany still has no plan to reach an alliance-wide military spending goal by 2024. But they also come as fundamental disagreements between the Trump administration and Europe continue to ding the alliance\u2019s credibility. On top of that, governments ostracized on the continent for their non-democratic leanings \u2014 like Hungary or Poland \u2014 angle to find a kindred spirit in U.S. President Donald Trump and convert that bond into security guarantees independent of NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn NATO, we are more than partners; we are allies,\u201d the German defense chief proclaimed. \u201cThat&#8217;s because every member unequivocally stands by Article 5, and because we stand by our weakest ally just as much as we stand by our strongest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That statement brings to mind Trump\u2019s comments last summer questioning that NATO should come to the aid of a \u201ctiny country\u201d like alliance member Montenegro.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/02\/15\/pentagon-chief-asks-partners-to-expand-isis-fight-as-us-withdraws-in-syria\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_9050-2.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pentagon chief asks allies to expand ISIS fight as US withdraws in Syria<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Patrick Shanahan wants allies to evolve to fight Islamic State&#039;s global ideology<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Von der Leyen argued that fairness in NATO should extend not only to financial burden-sharing but also to political decision-making. \u201cFor all our missions, we go by the principle, \u2018in together, out together.\u2019 \u201d That comment speaks to the perception here that the Trump administration made plans to withdraw from Syria and reduce the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan without consulting allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veteran U.S. diplomats Douglas Lute and Nicholas Burns outlined what they termed \u201cchallenges from within\u201d to the alliance in a new report by the Harvard Kennedy School\u2019s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe think NATO has to pay attention to this,\u201d Burns told reporters in Munich, referring to growing ideological fractures within the organization. He argued that the alliance\u2019s secretariat in Brussels should be empowered to review and, if needed, penalize undemocratic regimes, for example by withholding common alliance construction funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNATO needs to take a hard look at itself,\u201d reads the Belfer Center report. \u201cAcross twenty-five indicators or democracy rated by Freedom House, the downward trend among NATO allies over the past decade is stark.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As for the United States, a celebration for the alliance&#8217;s 70th anniversary planned in Washington in April had NATO officials in Brussels worried that Trump would use the occasion to deliver another broadside against the alliance. In the end, the event was downgraded to the level of foreign ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At a time when NATO cohesion is in short supply, \u201cit really should have been a summit of heads of government,\u201d Burns said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Germany\u2019s defense minister is urging fellow NATO leaders to speak with one voice in their approach to ongoing crises, bringing to the forefront the simmering problem of diverging ideas threatening to split the alliance from 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