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What does Biden expect from the first NATO summit as US president? NATO News

On Monday, 30 leaders and heads of state will meet for a NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, at the headquarters of the 1949 security alliance.

At the first NATO summit as US President Joe Biden, he will be eager to reassure his allies that “America is back” after former President Donald Trump said he was “obsolete” for four years, called member countries “dead” and initially denied it. did explicitly accept NATO’s principle of mutual defense.

The new “2030 Strategic Concept” will be explained, which envisages the intention to address the various challenges that the treaty now faces.

NATO’s current strategic concept dates back to 2010, but “it didn’t take the predictions of Russia’s attacks seriously enough, and it barely mentioned China,” said James Goldgeier, a professor of international relations at the American University and former director of Russia. Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for the need to reflect a changing security landscape, saying that the alliance with critics in 2019 was “dead from the brain” and no longer fit for purpose.

NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg will discuss issues related to cyber warfare, China, Russia, strategic competition with authoritarian states and climate change in international security.

Here are five things to know:

Afghanistan

One of the most pressing issues on the agenda is how NATO will ensure stability in Afghanistan while suspending operations in the region.

U.S. troops and their NATO allies will withdraw 9,600 powerful missions from Biden by September 11, after nearly two decades of conflict in the region.

Critics, including former U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, have warned that the Taliban is in danger of regaining control.

According to the UN Security Council, the Al-Qaeda network has 400 to 600 members fighting the Taliban – the reason for the US invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.

In an interview with CNN in April, al-Qaeda officials said “except that the war against the US will continue on all other fronts.”

NATO intends to provide ongoing economic assistance to Afghan security forces. But doubts remain as to whether the allies will commit millions of dollars (perhaps billions) to provide equipment and serious training programs in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military has also discussed laying the groundwork for neighboring countries to return to Afghanistan if threats from al-Qaeda or ISIL arise.

The U.S. would like to operate in Pakistan, but given Islamabad’s frequent relationship with Washington, it is not difficult to rule Biden.

He added that the Pentagon would support a return to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan bases, a move that would require blessings from China and Russia.

“This will be much more difficult than it was 10 years ago,” he says, as relations between the US and these two powers have deteriorated.

Russia

Leaders will also discuss strengthening NATO’s collective defense, focusing on “an increasingly aggressive Russia,” says Kristine Berzina, of the German Marshall Fund in the United States.

Last year, Russia sent 150.00 troops to its Ukrainian border when Stoltenberg called it “the largest accumulation of Russian troops” since Moscow annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 in 2014, which would have the effect of “attacks” to warn renewed Russia.

The rift between Western governments and Russia also grew last August as a result of the almost deadly poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, a claim denied by many in Moscow.

At the summit, the U.S. is likely to be asked if it is willing to commit more troops and tanks to Europe, deploy more equipment in Europe and deploy more air defenses on the continent, says Brussels-based head Jamie Shea -Tank Friends of Europe and former NATO staff.

“Countries like Romania, Bulgaria would certainly like to see a stronger U.S. defense in the region.”

China

In a recent speech, Stoltenberg noted that Beijing does not view NATO as an adversary, but that China’s rise has direct implications for the security of the transatlantic alliance.

“China does not perceive itself as a threat as something that can turn in the opposite direction,” Berzina says.

NATO allies have condemned China’s human rights violations, including repression against Hong Kong dissidents and the internalization of more than a million members of the Uyghur Muslim population, mostly in the northwestern Xinjiang region.

Other concerns at NATO include China’s threats to invade Taiwan, growing militarization in Beijing and a focus on the Indo-Pacific region, Dr. Kathleen Hicks, the U.S. Undersecretary of Defense, said are increasingly “consistent and aggressive”.

According to Berzina, during Trump’s tenure, “there was a desire in Europe to maintain equality between the two great powers and not to be absorbed in the American conflict, especially when relations with the United States were as poor.”

While Berzina says there is still more “dragging a foot” in Europe on the issue in China than the US would like, Shea expects a greater alignment in Beijing.

“Europe has woken up to China’s challenge,” he says.

The EU punished Chinese officials in March for the first time in 30 years over the Uighur case.

France, Germany and the United Kingdom recently sent warships to the Indo-Pacific region, which shows that Europe has a “participation in a free and open Indo-Pacific,” says Rafael Loss, coordinator of the Pan-European Data Project at the Council of Europe. External Relations.

“NATO may seek closer cooperation with partners such as Australia, India, Japan and South Korea. It needs to think about how it can help protect Taiwan’s democracy,” Loss says.

Defense spending

NATO members will decide whether or not to increase the organization’s common budget to achieve more unified capabilities, such as training, exercises and stronger cyber defense.

Stoltenberg called on the Allies to “invest more” and “invest better” and proposed that they collectively contribute to the common budget of $ 20 billion over the next 10 years.

Today, the ordinary pot is 0.3 percent of total allied defense spending, or about $ 2.5 billion.

French officials have spoken out against the offer to remove common funding.

French Defense Minister Florence Parly told Politico this month: “All this money is money that will not be used to increase national budgets and is a European defense effort that benefits NATO. And what to do? No one is able to tell you.”

Berzina has advanced that spending for some NATO members will be a concern: “Spending has always been leading and helpful. There will be commitments, but I think that will be a challenge, especially in the COVID-19 economic landscape. “

And then the EU summit

A day later, on Tuesday, Biden and key EU figures will hold a summit in Brussels.

Experts say tariffs and trade related to aircraft and metals are a key issue, as well as how to enforce the new global minimum rate on Corporation Tax under the historic agreement reached on June 5 by a group of 7 finance ministers.

Other topics will include data transfer, pandemic recovery, climate policy and carbon pricing schemes.

While Europe is keen to welcome the Biden region, the previous administration has shown how quickly Washington’s priorities can change.

Goldgeier says European leaders are unsure of Biden’s “foreign policy for the middle class” strategy compared to Trump’s “America’s first” agenda.

“That will be a critical question for Europe.”




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