Fmr. U.S. Amb. To NATO: ‘NATO Summits Now Are About Managing One Person and One Country, and that Is the United States’

EXCERPT:

SMITH: “I do agree with the assessment. NATO summits are normally, for decades, they’ve been about allies coming together to talk about shared threats and challenges. They’re there to announce new policies, new initiatives to deal with Russia, threats in the Middle East, threats in the Arctic, challenges elsewhere. What’s changed is NATO summits now are about managing one person and one country, and that is the United States. And so, it becomes a balancing act that’s more about one person than about the collective strength of the alliance as a whole. So, of course, I’m personally relieved to see that we came out of the other side of the summit with a united message and some sense of resolve and support for Ukraine. That’s a good thing. But I worry that if we continue to get into this cycle where it’s just about managing the United States, that NATO is distracted and unable to focus collectively as allies on those shared challenges and threats.”