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Defense Budgets Set to Dominate Yet Another NATO Summit

Associated Press

   BRUSSELS - Despite pleas to set aside bickering over military spending
   so the issue doesn't dominate a third NATO summit in a row, the United
   States is almost certain to demand again this week that its 28 NATO
   partners respect their pledges to boost defense budgets.

   NATO countries slashed spending as tensions eased after the Cold War.
   But Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula was a
   wake-up call. The allies agreed then to halt cuts, boost budgets and
   move toward spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense by 2024.

   The 2% figure is perhaps too simplistic in that its value fluctuates
   depending on how economies perform. Moreover, countries calculate their
   defense budgets differently; some want veterans pensions included, for
   example.

   Correct spending levels don't guarantee that adequate forces can be
   deployed into battle in a timely way and sustained by efficient supply
   lines. Nor do they have a relationship to any real security threat
   assessment.

   Importantly, this is about national military budgets, not NATO funding.
   No one owes the United States money, even though Washington spends more
   on defense than all the other allies combined.

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