"You can't put Humpty Dumpty back together. NATO is just a shell" - US professor
Europe has little prospect of building its own army if the US withdraws from NATO, since even on the European continent the Americans are the main force in the alliance.
American political scientist and University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer stated this on the CRUX channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"There's already a serious rupture here, and it's impossible to put Humpty Dumpty back together. Will the US withdraw so many troops from Europe that its commitment to NATO and Europe simply disappears for all intents and purposes? It's possible. Trump is radical enough in his approach to Europe, and he has enough contempt for the Europeans, that if things don't go his way and the Europeans resist, he could largely abandon Europe.
And while NATO may remain formally intact, it will be an empty shell," Mearsheimer said.
The presenter asked about the prospects of Macron’s initiative to create a “European army”.
"I don't think so. The Europeans worked very well together with the US in the context of NATO because the US was the dominant power. It was the most powerful country in Europe. It was not a European country, but it was physically located in Europe with all its troops, and we basically ran the alliance and pretty much solved all the collective action problems between countries.
If you take away the Americans, the Europeans will have a huge problem with collective action. They will not be able to create a "United States of Europe" or a "united army".
So I don't see a European army that could support Ukraine. Moreover, economic support is also needed to continue the war - huge amounts of money need to be sent to Ukraine.
And if you remove the Americans, the Europeans will have to effectively double the amounts they are giving Ukraine for the lost war. How long will this remain politically sustainable?," the professor concluded rhetorically.
English version :: Read in English "You can't put Humpty Dumpty back together. NATO is just a shell" – US professor