European leaders have had cause to rethink their roles within Nato recently, in light of statements coming from the US Government. The Trump administration’s dealings with Russia to try and broker a peace deal in Ukraine, have called into question America’s support for the alliance. But whilst the Trump administration say they are not pulling out of Nato and remain committed to the defence partnership with Europe, they have warned that they will ‘no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship with encourages dependency’.

Nato currently asks member states to spend at least 2% on defence, but US President Donald Trump has consistently told European allies to spend much more than that target. The alliance’s famous Article 5 holds that Nato members will come to the defence of an ally which comes under attack and the assumption has always been that the US would continue to be the anchoring power. But now Europe’s leaders are having to consider whether they could potentially go it alone without American military aid.

So, on this week’s Inquiry, we’re asking ‘Do we need a new NATO?’

Contributors:

John Deni, Author and Research Professor, US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, USA Rachel Ellehuus, Director-General, The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), London, UK Toomas Hendricks Ilves, Former President of Estonia, Professor at Tartu University, Estonia Irina Borogan, Deputy Editor Agentura.ru, Non-resident Senior Fellow, The Centre for European Policy Analysis, London, UK

Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Katie Morgan Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Craig Boardman Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples & Liam Morrey

Image Credit: Leah Mills/Reuters via BBC Images