In his recent speech, US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump said Europe isn't paying its "fair share" of contributions to the NATO budget and he certainly wouldn't be sad to see the military alliance dissolved.
"The foundations of NATO have dissolved. Europe's financial commitment to NATO is not credible. The willingness of the US to operate within the constraints of NATO is long gone," Friedman said, according to Business Insider.
When NATO was first founded, it had a clear mission to defend Western Europe from the Soviet Union. But after the fall of the Soviet Union, the alleged danger for Europeans was no longer there. NATO, however, continued to exist, although it was clear the military alliance had lost its raison d'etat.
NATO has become even further obsolete after the signing of the Maastricht Treaty and creation of the European Union, the expert added.
Since then, lacking a clear and present military mission, NATO has taken up a variety of different tasks, getting involved not only in the issues of regional security, but also outside of Europe.
According to Friedman it isn't a good thing, as "military alliances function best with simple objectives."
Friedman said the US government isn't happy with the fact that despite promises that each NATO member will devote 2 percent of its GDP to defense, Europeans aren't contributing. Meanwhile, the United States contributes 2.7 percent of its annual GDP to NATO.
Instead of increasing their share, both Germany and Britain have actually been spending less on defense expenditures.
Now with big names, like Trump and Sanders pointing out this disparity in NATO's budget contribution, it's becoming a major issue.
As public opinion is changing in the United States, Europeans will have to decide what to do next with NATO. Friedman said that a clear and unified "strategic outlook is missing," which is needed to reinvigorate the military alliance. Otherwise, after almost 30 years, NATO might end up following the path of its original rival Warsaw Pact.
