A columnist for The Washington Post (WP) said that Europe and Asia should prepare for a likely Trump presidency and the departure of the United States.< /p>
This information was reported by the Washington Post, URA-Inform reports.
Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said U.S. allies in Europe and Asia would be making a serious mistake if they took passage of the $61 billion Ukraine aid bill as a signal that they do not need to seek greater strategic autonomy.
Europe and Asia should act as if the United States had turned its back on the world, he said, because there was a very real risk given a likely Trump presidency.
“As painful as it may be to get Ukraine aid through Congress, the $61 billion will likely run out before the end of the year. This means another bill will be needed in early 2025. If Trump wins in November, it is very unlikely that he will support such legislation. He continues to say that he will end the war in 24 hours. Many believe he will cut off Ukraine to force it into a one-sided agreement that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has no intention of honoring. The US presidential election could determine the fate of Ukraine and Trump could easily win this election. Even if he does not do this, aid to Ukraine will still be in jeopardy if Republicans control either chamber of Congress,” he noted.
He added, however, that US allies will have to develop contingency plans circumstances, based on the fact that America may no longer stand side by side with them in the future.
“Indeed, this is already happening: Canada and European NATO members increased their defense spending by 11% in 2023, and Japan is increasing its defense spending by 16.5% this year. But this may be just the beginning of a long-term shift away from the United States, with countries from Germany to South Korea debating whether they can still rely on the U.S. nuclear umbrella or whether they should pursue nuclear weapons of their own.
Boot says it is vital for US allies to do more to strengthen their multilateral defense ties so they are less dependent on the whims of Washington.
“In the case of Japan and South Korea, this means continuing to strengthen their nascent military and intelligence ties in the face of growing threats from China and North Korea. In the case of Europe, this means not only continuing to increase defense spending, but also deepening cooperation in both defense production and the military sphere,” he wrote in WP.
Recall that it was previously reported that NATO is convening a military committee: it became known what will happen on May 16.