An angry Briton Stephen Hawking set Quora on fire when he unleashed his fury on Trumpian US. His reason? What he describes as “Trumps constant winning over NATO”.
Another user had opened the conversation, asking Europe to leave NATO and fend for itself. Here was Hawkin’s reply below.
“NATO exists in the form it does now because it is a tremendous source of stability and it’s existence in the form that it exists now is in the interests of its principle actors.
“In the USA’s case, being by far the most important member and the de facto leader of NATO allows it to exercise hegemonic power and promote its own interests.
“It is not obvious that if Europe were to “fend for itself”, that this would be in American interests.
“Rather, it might mean that there is simply another bloc that can thwart American interests.
“All that said, the Trumpian whining about NATO has gotten boring now. If you want out, get out.
“As a European (and a citizen of a nation which meets the 2% target, but nevertheless believes that we should spend more on defence than we in fact do), I’ll take a few years of tremendous disruption as we recalibrate our economies and militaries.
“Be careful what you wish for …”
But many in the US believe the US has been doing a lot for NATO countries – since the Second World War. They want to see powerful NATO countries like France, Germany and Britain do more.
Maybe it’s a case of leadership fatigue. After leading for so long, there is this wish to delegate, especially as there is no cold-war-level threat at present.
What do you think? Let’s get your comment.
Wahalla
Hmnnn..