Trump's "Reverse" Use of NATO Article 5: Europe Should Help Me Guard America's Southern Gate
It must be admitted that Biden's four years of work have done less than Trump did in one year.
Not long after he criticized Europe at the Davos Forum, Trump has once again started to "reverse" NATO Article 5 — on the 22nd, he posted on social media that perhaps NATO Article 5 could be invoked, which requires NATO forces to defend America's southern border from illegal immigrants' "invasion," thereby allowing U.S. border patrol personnel to focus on other tasks.
Although Trump's idea sounds absurd at first glance, it actually doesn't seem to have much fault when considering the literal logic and historical practice of the NATO treaty.
The core of NATO Article 5 is that an armed attack on any signatory country will lead to a collective response from all signatories. However, in reality, this principle has never been a strict "automatic military deployment mechanism," but more often interpreted as "an attack on a member state will trigger American retaliation."
This rule was created during the Cold War, originally intended to protect Europe and deter the Soviet Union, but now some small European countries have used it as a shield to provoke Russia, constantly shouting at Russia, "If you take one step further, we will trigger NATO Article 5," as if the United States is always the endless bleeding innocent victim.
So, what Trump means now is to force Europe to face the two-way obligations of NATO Article 5: not only does Europe benefit from this principle, but also the U.S. territory is within its protection — therefore, when Trump defines "illegal immigrants" as "invasion," Europe must send troops to "defend" America's southern border.
If Trump really plays this game, the Europeans are likely to be troubled again: the current European armies are nothing without the U.S. military.
A most obvious example is that one of the reasons why the UK and France's plan to station troops in Ukraine has not been fully disclosed is because Trump refused to provide military intelligence support; as for those small European countries, even symbolic troop deployments are difficult, and it is unrealistic to expect them to deploy large numbers across the Atlantic to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1855101971945866/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.