A trans-Atlantic initiative of defense experts welcomes the presidency of Joe Biden, in particular his commitment to re-enter the Paris Climate Protection Agreement, and calls for revival of NATO which they claim was not possible with Donald Trump. Writing on Jan. 18, even before the inauguration on the homepage of the German Marshall Fund of the U.S. they headlined their document, “More Ambition, Please! Toward a New Agreement Between Germany and the United States,” focussing on what they claim is the German role now. Here are excerpts:
“Germany—together with the Biden administration and with its European partners—will need to focus on redefining and reinforcing the United States’ long-term role in Europe. This process will take place within a dramatically changed geopolitical environment. Germany, like all of Europe, will need to learn to live with the reality that the world’s strategic center has moved to East Asia. After 500 years, the center of the world is no longer the European continent. Hence, the United States’ priority will be Asia and its resources will not be directed primarily to Europe. There is no plausible scenario of a Europe’s future in which its countries—first and foremost Germany—do not have to do significantly more to ensure the continent’s security and stability.... The transatlantic security partnership needs a new consensus: the United States’ renewed engagement with NATO must be combined with a significantly higher contribution for Europe’s defense from the other allies, especially Germany. An ambitious plan for capabilities and the necessary spending for it should be put forward.“
