Having spent the last two meetings discussing national (US) politics, I thought we could turn our attention to Europe:
- Given the Trump Administration’s uncertain support for the NATO alliance, how should Europe react?
- Are the European members of NATO sufficiently aligned in their policies/objectives to coordinate well without strong US leadership, or are countries like Hungary likely to cause decision-making gridlock?
- Can Europe really achieve the 5% of GDP defense spending objective without undue political backlash? If they do, how? Higher taxes? Adjustments to social spending? What will these moves do to economic growth?
- Can Europe establish a unified front vis-a-vis Ukraine? Russia? China?
- What will be the implications for US policy (and the US economy) if the Europeans do become more independent and self-sufficient?