Ivan Eland: "Trump Should Get Out Of NATO Now, But Nicely"

Dr. Ivan Eland is a libertarian and American defence analyst who once called Jimmy Carter "the best modern president," opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and called George W. Bush's presidency "one of the worst of all time." I opposed the 2003 war too, preferred Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan at the time and certainly think him an infinitely better President than Bush the Younger. Dr. Eland argues now that Donald Trump should take the USA out of Nato before he leaves office, to save a huge amount of money and to allow him to use defence spending to protect US interests from China. 

He points out that Putin is not a threat to the West but just another tin-pot dictator. Yes.

"The worst fear of the Eurocentrics is that Trump will, before leaving office, withdraw from the NATO alliance, much as he did with the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, the international agreement on climate change, and the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty. Yet this is the proper, though radical, approach. It needs to be done immediately, so that it can’t be reversed by the next president. The problem is that Trump has been rude and obnoxious
enough to the Europeans that the divorce might very well make Britain’s exit from the European Union look like a walk in the park. The ideal would have been to have had a previously cordial relationship with Europe, followed by a U.S. statement that the European economic miracle has allowed them to withstand a stagnant Russia and they need to finally take primary responsibility for their own defense."

I think there is no compelling reason for the UK to remain in Nato but if we leave we should do so slowly, without making enemies. Leaving Nato could still be a good bargaining chip in the trade negotiations but I know Boris Johnson would never use this tactic. I described Boris Johnson as Hillary in drag and he is, like his hero Churchill and unlike Mr Trump, a globalist, an interventionist and not a man of peace.