‘The conflict in Ukraine and Trump are two threats to NATO’, – reports The Washington Post

During the height of the Cold War, the Netherlands had tank divisions consisting of up to 1,000 armored vehicles. However, after the Cold War ended, the number of tanks in the country’s arsenal dropped to nearly zero.

As noted by The Washington Post, this is just one example of the widespread disarmament and reduction in the size of armed forces that occurred across Europe after the Cold War.

Now, Mark Rutte, who took office as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands shortly before the country decommissioned its last tanks, is a favorite for the position of NATO Secretary-General. This raises questions in Brussels about whether he can address the threats facing the North Atlantic Alliance: the conflict in Ukraine, Russia’s turn to a military economy and the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House.

While these threats are distinct, they both push European countries towards expanding defense production and increasing spending on collective defense within NATO. However, experts caution that even this may not help Europe be prepared to counter the growing threat from the axis of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, as well as serve as an adequate substitute for the U.S. in providing assistance to Ukraine.

Growing strategic threats and NATO’s plans to defend its borders require European countries to significantly increase military expenditures beyond what they are currently willing to commit. In the long term, this may necessitate sacrificing social welfare programs and environmental goals.

“The pockets of Europe are deep, but not deep enough to simultaneously achieve military, social and environmental goals,” writes The Washington Post.