The US foreign policy course change under President Donald Trump presents a risk. It is not about the NATO preservation; it is about the grand divide of the entire Western world.

This was emphasized by Dr. Bobo Lo, Independent expert on International relations, Non-Resident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, at the 17 th Annual Kyiv Security Forum “UA: UNITE AGAIN TO DEFEAT THE GLOBAL AGGRESSOR”, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation “Open Ukraine”.

“The foundations on which alliances were built, in particular the common values
idea, are all gone. This situation will persist for at least 5 years, and maybe longer,”
the expert noted.

“European countries certainly deserve criticism for their lack of attention to defense spending. It is the US that has been decelerating for years any development of European strategic autonomy. When the full-scale war in Ukraine began, this autonomy was thrown on the scrap heap. Restoring such an autonomy is an inevitable imperative,” said Dr. Bobo Lo.

He emphasized that the greatest risk for the North Atlantic Alliance is not even its
collapse, but the loss of Western unity. And it is the US, according to the expert, that has been long hindering Europe’s independence in security sector.

“Everyone is accusing European states today of not paying due attention to defense spending. Naturally, they do deserve criticism, but the US has been holding back the development of European strategic autonomy for years. When the full-scale war in Ukraine began, this autonomy was thrown out of the window,” the analyst said.

The Kyiv Security Forum, founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s “Open Ukraine”
foundation, is the main platform of our state for discussing the problems of war and peace, national and world security.