NATO Defense Funding

 

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POTUS D.J. Trump has suggested, no doubt after intense study and reflection, that all the members of NATO, including the US, devote 5% of their GDP to defense. At a meeting in 2014 NATO members had agreed to increasing defense spending to 2% of GDP. Of course the impetus for this increase is the big argument between Putin's Russia and Zelensky's Ukraine. In 2024 the US put together a pot of $967 billion for defense purposes, about 3.4% of GDP, increasing it to 5% would bring the commitment to well over a trillion dollars.

Obviously, or maybe not, throwing numbers like this around without a specific destination would seem to indicate that it's up to the defense establishment to determine how this funding would be implemented. They're already bulking up on artillery rounds. There's much talk about increasing the size and ability of the navy fleet. Defending east Asia against the godless commies means huge and diverse expenditures but what for? You can be sure that the customer Pentagon and its corporate suppliers will always be able to agree on an expensive weapons program. In the case of Ukraine the US will demand a quid pro quo, lately the price is access to rare minerals that no one has identified.

One thing that hasn't come up in regard to NATO is the length of a human life. Looking at the composition of the US Congress it would appear that elected officials can function for many decades and in a way they do. The same would be true for foreign despots. As soon as an east European or Oriental nuevo emperor shows signs of decrepitude those that make up his or her cadre begin to determine the successor. Inevitable decline and death mean that both bad guys and the virtuous are only on the world stage for a relatively short time. Putin is not forever and neither is Trump. Who takes their place and what their goals are will be known soon enough.