Trump and other populists will haunt NATO’s 75th birthday party
Threats to Western alliances lie both within and without the club
Editor’s note (July 8th): After this article was published Sir Keir Starmer was elected as prime minister in Britain, and Marine Le Pen’s hard-right National Rally failed to become the largest party in France’s National Assembly.
AT HIS FIRST summit with European leaders in 2021, after years of upheaval under Donald Trump, Joe Biden exulted: “America is back.” To which Emmanuel Macron of France asked: “For how long?” The question will resonate more loudly than ever as NATO leaders meet in Washington on July 9th-11th. Mr Biden is limping behind Mr Trump in the race for the White House. Mr Macron himself is being overwhelmed by a populist wave. And the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is languishing in the polls. Sir Keir Starmer, set to become Britain’s new prime minister this week, may feel he is joining NATO’s last supper, not its 75th birthday party.
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This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Hardly a celebration”
From the July 6th 2024 edition
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