Agreed. Plus the whole “pay up” thing is a red herring; there are no membership dues for being in NATO, they just agree to spend two percent of their GDP on defense (which they don’t all do).
And just to wrap it all together, the money plaes in comparison to the value of having a treaty at all. The absolute stupidest thing you could do is blow it up just because some countries haven’t hit rheir spending targets.
Agreed. Plus the whole “pay up” thing is a red herring; there are no membership dues for being in NATO, they just agree to spend two percent of their GDP on defense (which they don’t all do).
The 2 percent is also a goal. A spending guideline if you will. Not a hard demand to be a member.
There’s also widespread confusion over what kind of spending counts toward the 2 percent goal.
And just to wrap it all together, the money plaes in comparison to the value of having a treaty at all. The absolute stupidest thing you could do is blow it up just because some countries haven’t hit rheir spending targets.