The End of NATO: Iran War Exposes Unrepairable Fractures Within the Alliance

The Iran war has exposed deep fractures within NATO. European reluctance to support the conflict highlights an increasingly isolated America and questions the alliance’s collective purpose. Meanwhile, Israel’s role and the shifting global balance toward emerging Eastern powers further weaken cohesion. NATO’s future appears uncertain and increasingly fragile.

“When alliances are tested more by doubt than unity, even the strongest institutions may fall.”

“When alliances are tested more by doubt than unity, even the strongest institutions may fall.”

Although Trump is not the only US President to compel allies to take a greater share of their defense, it’s also a fact that no other President has ever publicly scolded the alliance members. They all agreed that NATO was essential to the national security of the United States, as well as to the stability of the world, especially Europe. His disrespectful behavior and not maintaining the diplomatic decorum have, this time, created a very unpleasant situation — a shock that the alliance has never experienced throughout its history.

One of the major factors behind the deterioration of the transatlantic partnership is President Trump’s anti-globalization policy. The Western-led liberal order, whereby the entire international community would strive as a global village, is now under grave threat. President Trump has explicitly stated that it was a big mistake by the previous US administrations to create liberal norms at the cost of American interests. Recently, he exited America from various UN-related bodies, declaring that they no longer serve American purposes. However, Europe’s entire political and strategic makeup is based upon liberal norms. The end of liberal order means the end of NATO.

Likewise, the Trump administration has always prioritized bilateralism over multilateral foreign policy.........

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