Can Trump make peace with NATO?

Why it's so important that Trump not make a hash of Thursday's summit

President Trump.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

One of the benefits of working amidst national security think tanks in Washington, D.C., is that my boyhood obsession of playing "war" never had to go the way of Saturday morning cartoons — it just took on a different form. But in this adult version of G.I. Joes — war games that model how nations will react to different crises, such as invasions, terror attacks, or general nuclear war — the results can be downright terrifying. They also reinforce what should be obvious to anyone who has studied geopolitics: Alliances matter.

Indeed, the present situation in Europe — which President Donald Trump is about to confront head on thanks to his participation in a critical NATO summit Thursday — makes for some of the most intense and chilling war games I have ever participated in.

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Harry J. Kazianis

Harry J. Kazianis is director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest, founded by former U.S. President Richard M. Nixon.