(Bloomberg Opinion) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was a courteous guest during a joint session of Congress Wednesday, playing down current frictions within the alliance and praising President Donald Trump’s effort to get Europe to pay more for its own defense.
This was more than just astute diplomacy: It was recognition that, despite the impression given by Trump’s many disparaging remarks about NATO, the U.S. has remained essentially supportive of trans-Atlantic security. Since Trump took office, spending on the European Deterrence Initiative, the primary mechanism to counter Russian belligerence, has nearly doubled to more than $6 billion a year. More than 8,000 U.S. troops are rotating in and out of NATO bases in Eastern Europe, and the administration is in talks with Poland about building a permanent base there. The U.S. is pushing to make the former Yugoslav republic now called North Macedonia NATO’s 30th member.
And it’s true that Trump’s admonishment of low-spending NATO allies has been productive. Several are now meeting the goal of spending 2 percent of GDP on their militaries, and more are on track to do so by the mid-2020s.
The allies themselves deserve credit for their investment in other NATO efforts as well. Canada, Germany and the U.K. are spearheading multinational quick-reaction forces in the Baltic states and Poland. The Europeans have been legitimate partners in the fight against Islamic State — France dispatched its lone aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf in support. And their willingness to extend training missions in Iraq and Afghanistan could allow the U.S. to draw down troop strength without abandoning the governments in Baghdad and Kabul.
That said, as NATO celebrates its 70th anniversary this week and prepares for its December summit, much work is left to be done. Member militaries need to be better integrated — as logistical hiccups suffered during NATO’s recent large-scale exercises made clear. Greater naval deterrence is needed to counter Russian buildups on the Black and Baltic seas and in the Arctic. NATO needs a strategy to address Russian information warfare and new cybersecurity threats posed by China. And Turkey, which is sliding into Russia’s orbit, must be brought back into the fold.
At the same time, it is important that Trump stop contradicting America’s actions with his divisive rhetoric. He has insulted allied leaders, cozied up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and called into question the U.S. commitment to NATO’s bedrock principle: collective defense. The trans-Atlantic alliance has survived past crises and can get past this one, too. But it would help greatly if Trump would remember that “leader of the free world” isn’t just a cliché, it’s a job description.
Editorials are written by the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.
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