
President Trump has returned to the White House after a four-year hiatus. He comes with an “America First” approach, which prioritizes U.S. interests – but it’s a strategy that critics say often comes at the expense of international alliances and multilateral commitments. One of the alliances that will likely face a challenge is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Susan Colbourn, a Duke Sanford professor and historian specializing in NATO, joins us to discuss the topic. She’s the author of Euromissiles: The Nuclear Weapons That Nearly Destroyed NATO, and she’s associate director of the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy.
Policy 360
A New Administration Considers NATO
Conversation Highlights
Responses have been edited for clarity.
On the importance of NATO today
NATO, since its founding, has really come to form a critical cornerstone of the international order more broadly. And so, the world we know is one where NATO plays a central organizing function, it helps coordinate countries in the transatlantic space. It serves as an actor that helps experts convene, [and] that helps tackle a wide range of topics from climate change to cybersecurity. But it also speaks to broader underlying partnerships. I think the United States still has an interest in the same things that drove it to be invested in NATO 70 years ago. It has an interest in a prosperous, stable Europe, with whom the United States can trade. The European Union is a market of 450 million people. That is a big market that matters deeply for the United States.
On other countries 'not paying their fair share'

If we think about the common critiques Trump has leveled against the alliance it is often that the European allies [and] the Canadians, they're not paying their fair share. We all know this soundbite. [However, you might be surprised to learn] that issue is one that virtually every one of Donald Trump's predecessors as President of the United States have made -- Democrats and Republicans alike, back to Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s.
That concern about the degree to which the United States is shouldering the burden in the alliance, that's a really old issue. And there, Trump has a striking continuity with his predecessors, but Trump's style it seems to me is very different. The way he conveys his frustration, the sources, why he is frustrated about burden sharing, seem very different than a John F. Kennedy or a Ronald Reagan, or a Barack Obama.
And that public brow-beating that he has become so famous for really threatens to do long-term and lasting damage to some of the foundational elements that bind the allies together.
I'm thinking about really fuzzy stuff. The alliance is this big sprawling bureaucracy but its fundamental core is actually about confidence and trust and faith. The core of the treaty is article V, the premise that an attack on one will be seen as an attack on all. Well, when Donald Trump goes on the news and says, "Why should we defend Montenegro?" -- he chips away at that trust for many people. And so, that style has the potential to do long-term damage.
One message for the Trump administration?
I think my message would be an incredibly simple one, which is that the very fact of having an alliance like NATO, made up of voluntary association of like-minded countries is an unparalleled asset and a force multiplier. US adversaries do not have comparable alliances or arrangements or alignments.
There's a lot of talk right now about the "axis of autocrats" linking Russia and China and North Korea and Iran. But those are, in many respects, transactional relationships.
Having an alliance that is deeply embedded is a force multiplier in every respect, diplomatic, economic, military, cultural, normative. And so, the balance sheet -- who pays what -- is not the end all and be all way to judge how valuable, how much benefit the United States and its interests get from the alliance.
And I think that's particularly important today as the incoming administration is talking about a pivot to Asia, focusing on China as the pacing challenge, as the biggest threat. Having allies, [and] a [European] market of 450 million people allied with you is huge, right? It's not worth throwing it away in the name of making false either/or choice.
About Policy 360
Policy 360 is a series of policy-focused conversations hosted by Manoj Mohanan, interim Dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. New episodes premiere throughout the academic year. Guests have included luminaries like Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Ressa and former director of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim, as well as researchers from Duke University and other institutions. Conversations are timely and relevant.