The importance of taking care of your allies and the consequences of treating them with contempt

I have been a supporter of Atlanticism for years, because I believe that this alliance has brought many benefits to its members.

Trump's tendency to rely on pro-Russian and isolationist figures is backfiring on him
The two favors Trump is doing for Moscow under the guise of protecting Greenland from Russia

However, in recent years, some have believed they might fare better by embracing nationalism and severing ties with their allies. This can garner votes when isolationism is chosen as an electoral strategy, but in reality, it can lead to problems. This is what is happening now to Donald Trump in relation to the Atlantic Alliance.

Last Sunday, regarding the Iranian dictatorship's decision to block the Strait of Hormuz, Trump told the Financial Times: "We have something called NATO" and added: "We've been very nice. We didn't have to help them with Ukraine. Ukraine is thousands of miles away from us... But we helped them. Now we'll see if they help us. Because I've always said we'll be there for them, but they won't be there for us. And I'm not sure they will be.". In the last few hours, the American president has had the idea of ​​suggest a possible US withdrawal from NATO by stating that he does not need Congress to decide it, a statement that has already generated criticism within the Republican Party.

This is not the first time Trump has treated his allies with such contempt. In January she stated: "We've never needed them, we have never really asked anything of them. You know, they'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that, and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines" Unfair statements that were answered by Giorgia Meloni reminding Trump of his allies' response after the September 11, 2001 attacks, attacks after which the only activation of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty took place by then US President George W. Bush.

Trump forgot the aid provided by the allies at the time and the blood shed by many European and Canadian soldiers, something that provoked understandable outrage. But the current US president did something worse. Since arriving at the White House, Trump has threatened Canada and Greenland (Denmark) with annexation, a way of mistreating allied countries that had not been seen even once since the signing of the Washington Treaty in 1949.

Likewise, in April of last year Trump announced tariffs against his allied countries and against Ukraine, but not against Russia, a clumsy and absurd measure with which he managed to gain numerous antipathies. I already explained yesterday that Trump made those decisions applauded by a court of isolationists and pro-Russians, whom he has wanted to surround himself with in his irresponsible way of mistreating his allies, without stopping to consider the consequences that this could have for the United States.

Two months ago, I already pointed out the possible consequences here, referring to Trump's threats to annex Greenland: "This operation by Trump regarding Greenland threatens to break the most powerful alliance the United States has ever had: NATO. Seeing the president of the most powerful country in the Atlantic Alliance threatening a loyal ally is a shameful act that threatens to shatter the relationship of trust between Washington, D.C. and its allies. What willingness to cooperate can the U.S. expect from its allies while threatening to seize part of one of them "the easy way" or "the hard way"?"

Esto debería recordar a muchos la importancia de cuidar a tus aliados y las consecuencias de tratarlos con desprecio. Pero sinceramente, a estas alturas ya tengo serias dudas que los defensores de discursos nacionalistas -no confudamos eso con el patriotismo, que es algo muy distinto, como recordó San Juan Pablo II- tengan la prudencia de pararse unos minutos a medir las consecuencias de lo que proponen. El nacionalismo es una lacra que en el siglo pasado provocó las dos peores guerras que ha sufrido la humanidad. Los millones de víctimas de las dos guerras mundiales deberían servirnos de recordatorio de la importancia de tener aliados para protegernos mutuamente de los matones, y más hoy que tenemos a Putin siguiendo los pasos de Hitler, pero algunos siguen empeñándose en olvidar el pasado.

This should remind many of the importance of caring for your allies and the consequences of treating them with contempt. But frankly, at this point I have serious doubts that the proponents of nationalist rhetoric—let's not confuse that with patriotism, which is something very different, as Saint John Paul II reminded us— have the prudence to stop for a few minutes and consider the consequences of what they propose. Nationalism is a scourge that in the last century caused the two worst wars humanity has ever suffered. The millions of victims of the two world wars should serve as a reminder of the importance of having allies to protect each other from bullies, especially today with Putin following in Hitler's footsteps, but some still insist on forgetting the past.