News Release

Trump Right to Question NATO, A “Subsidy to Weapons Manufacturers”

Share

coverThe Washington Post reports: “Trump questions need for NATO, outlines noninterventionist foreign policy.”

DAVID GIBBS, dgibbs at email.arizona.edu
Author of 
First Do No Harm: Humanitarian Intervention and the Destruction of YugoslaviaGibbs is a professor of history at the University of Arizona. He has written extensively on NATO.

He said today: “While Trump’s foreign policy positions are bombastic and casually thought out, he does show insight on certain issues, such as the excessive cost of U.S. overseas bases and the unreasonable burdens these commitments place on U.S. taxpayers. Trump is right to question the value of the NATO alliance — which could be viewed as an expensive anachronism and a throwback to the Cold War. It is also a huge subsidy to weapons manufacturers. Hopefully, Trump’s statements will trigger a long overdue debate on why the U.S. is spending so much money to maintain its Cold War alliance system, which is ill-suited to the actual security requirements of the 21st century as well as a questionable use of taxpayer funds. I make these points as someone who thinks many of Trump’s policies would be disastrous.”

See Gibbs’ piece, “Kosovo, a Template for Disaster: The Idea that Kosovo is a Model for Humanitarian Intervention in Libya is Based on a Series of Myths,” from the Guardian, March 21, 2011.