And Europe, especially Germany....
Trump and Japan.
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You also ignore American geo political interest. Israel is the US's closest ally for religious reasons (Judeo Christian values) and to maintain a strong representation of its resource interest in a strategically important region. Perhaps another reason is the powerful Jewish American lobby. Where you stand religiously and politically towards Israel is quite unimportant in this context.
Agree here, there is no reason why the US should still pay for Europe's defense. It's about time that Europe pulled that big baseball bat out its arse and started to actually take a firmer stance on Russia, the Middle East crisis and immigration. Perhaps the only way to force Europeans is by the US pulling out and reducing its contributions to Nato to match that of the Europeans.
Only 5 nations dedicate the required 2% of their GDP to defense.
It's the percentage that matters, not the dollar/euro value.
Many nations have never reached the threshold and some have never even come close.
Luxembourg dedicates .4% to defense and the U.S. spends 3.8%.
The U.S. , U.K. , Greece, Estonia, Poland and Romania are the only nations that consistently reach the standard. Many other nations are way behind.
We have been in Europe since 1942, 77 years ago. Europe has never enjoyed an era of peace that has lasted so long or been as prosperous as the last 77 years.
There are many reasons for it, but much of the success goes to the U.S. military for providing an umbrella of protection for Europe, specifically Germany.
We aren't mercenaries. If the EU does not want to contribute the required standard and defend their own people and homes, why should the U.S. do it for them? If you have mutual agreements and they aren't maintained, you don't have an alliance.
https://www.defensenews.com/global/...much-do-nato-member-nations-spend-on-defense/
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Not according to this link.
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ms.mil.xpnd.gd.zs?end=2017&start=1986
That is a nice link, but actually; it confirms what I posted.
The reference was to NATO members, not the world.
There are only 4,5 nations that consistently pay the required 2% GDP.
There are many nations that have NEVER met the standard.
They have been riding on our back too long.