Tony Wood in NYRB on NATO and the continuation of American policy:

'The foreign policy course on which the Trump administration is embarked—including the revocation of the Iran nuclear deal; exacerbation of the conflict in Israel–Palestine; continued antagonism with Russia; destabilizing trade wars—is likely to multiply sources of discord with Europe. For all that, NATO’s European members are clearly not going to try to overhaul the alliance in the near future, let alone consider scrapping it. On the contrary, they appear to have embraced their subordination ever more closely. The final declaration of the Brussels summit—apparently agreed in advance with American officials so that Trump couldn’t suddenly alter it—included a commitment by all NATO members immediately to increase military spending. Not only that, they also agreed to US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’s demand for the creation of a new NATO rapid-reaction force by 2020. Dubbed the “Four 30s,” it will consist of thirty battalions, thirty air squadrons, and thirty warships, ready to deploy within thirty days.

Thus, for all the concerns about the impending collapse of the liberal international order expressed before and after the Brussels summit, it was, from a US point of view, a resounding success. As the headline of a New York Times editorial on July 12 acknowledged, “Trump Got From NATO Everything Obama Ever Asked For.” Far from being anomalous or atypical, the Brussels summit neatly encapsulated the power dynamic between the US and NATO: Washington issues instructions, politely or otherwise, and its European allies fall into line. A former secretary of the US Air Force under Obama called the Brussels meeting “one of the meatiest NATO summits that I can recall.” It’s clear, though, who eats and who is eaten at this particular table.'

Read the article here.

The US and the West may be in decline, but the U.S. is still the eater, and for most of Europe to be its food is a rather comfortable position.