12 May 2026

German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz says, before an audience of schoolchildren,
that Iran has humiliated the US. Donald Trump announces the withdrawal of 5000
of its troops from his country. Meanwhile, Minister Donald Tusk, Prime Minister
of the most loyal of East European states loyal to the US and the Atlantic
alliance, told the Financial Times that Europe's "biggest, most important
question is if the United States is ready to be as loyal as it is described in
our (NATO) treaties. The question is if NATO is still an organisation ready,
politically and logistically, to react - for example, against Russia if they try
to attack."

The trouble is not recent but in the first year and a half of Donald Trump's
second administration these strains now seem to be building up to breaking
point. The two sides of the Atlantic find themselves on opposite sides of both
the major conflicts of our time, that in Ukraine and that against Iran. Tariffs
on the European Union are hurting its economy. There is increasing discussion
particularly in Brussels, on how that body should seek an autonomous defence
infrastructure. Europe and Canada are ramping up defence expenditure and if such
an infrastructure were to be built, notwithstanding the interminable squabbles
of EU member countries, it would represent a major reversal of the foundation of
the post Second World War North Atlantic alliance, the security umbrella that
the United States provided to Europe in acceptance of US leadership.

Radhika Desai and Kees van der Pijl, foremost critical international relations
scholar of the Atlantic Alliance discuss.