{"id":2238122,"date":"2024-05-06T07:52:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T11:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/opponents-of-ukraine-war-funding-persuaded-u-s-allies-to-finally-increase-defense-spending\/"},"modified":"2024-05-06T07:58:54","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T11:58:54","slug":"opponents-of-ukraine-war-funding-persuaded-u-s-allies-to-finally-increase-defense-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/opponents-of-ukraine-war-funding-persuaded-u-s-allies-to-finally-increase-defense-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine War Opponents Swayed Allies to Boost Defense Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fopponents-of-ukraine-war-funding-persuaded-u-s-allies-to-finally-increase-defense-spending%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2238122&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The recent\u2063 debate over the $60 billion Ukraine subsidy bill saw political opponents inadvertently supporting foreign policy\u2064 hawks. This led\u2062 to increased\u2062 discourse in the U.S., prompting allies \u200cto \u200creassess \u200ddefense\u200b spending. The evolving \u200bdynamics reflect\u200c a shift from America&#8217;s\u2063 previous global security strategy, influencing allies to enhance their\u200b military commitments. The $60 billion Ukraine subsidy bill \u200bdebate\u2062 sparked support\u2064 from political opponents for \u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/knowles-with-republicans-like-liz-cheney-and-mitt-romney-who-needs-democrats\/\" title=\"KNOWLES: With Republicans Like Liz Cheney And Mitt Romney, Who Needs Democrats?\">foreign policy hawks<\/a>. This influenced a rise in U.S. discussions and led allies to \u2063reconsider defense budgets, indicating a shift in America&#8217;s global \u200bsecurity strategy and encouraging increased military commitments from allies.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>It\u2019s always nice when your political opponents make your arguments for you. And in the recent dustup over the $60 billion Ukraine subsidy bill \u2014 which in late April passed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/interactive\/2024\/04\/20\/ukraine-israel-border-funding-house-vote\/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the House<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/interactive\/2024\/04\/23\/senate-vote-tiktok-ban-ukraine-israel-aid\/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senate<\/a> \u2014 that\u2019s precisely what foreign policy hawks have done. <\/p>\n<p>As many beltway wonks have observed, increasing debate in the United States over funding the two-year-old war in Ukraine \u2014 not to mention our myriad other military commitments around the globe \u2014 has led many U.S. allies to reconsider their own defense spending.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1414291757\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-858e466850397e692b6c31b77217afd9 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-858e466850397e692b6c31b77217afd9\"><\/div>\n<p>In other words, just the fact that there is no longer a consensus about America\u2019s \u201cpoliceman of the world\u201d post-Cold War security strategy among the American people and their representatives is persuading our allies to meet the various military commitments we have been demanding of them since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1981\/02\/22\/world\/us-warns-its-allies-they-must-increase-military-spending.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Ronald Reagan was president<\/em><\/a>. That should be designated a strategic win, but, as interpreted by our blinkered foreign policy establishment \u2014 who have unswervingly endorsed the growing number of U.S. military disasters this century \u2014 it is somehow a loss.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Max Boot: Exhibit A in the Incompetent Internationalists Museum<\/h2>\n<p>Leading the charge of incoherence in service of our discredited conventional foreign policy is Washington Post columnist and \u201cformer neoconservative\u201d Max Boot. In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2024\/04\/29\/ukraine-aid-trump-isolationism-threat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">April 29 op-ed<\/a>, Boot argues the recent scuttlebutt over the Ukraine funding bill \u201cshould give U.S. allies pause about whether they can still count on the United States.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He notes that \u201cU.S. allies will have to make contingency plans on the assumption that America may no longer be there for them in the future.\u201d He cites as evidence of this shifting paradigm the fact that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nato.int\/cps\/en\/natohq\/news_222664.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Canada and the European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization raised their defense budgets by 11 percent in 2023<\/a>. Japan, too, is <a href=\"https:\/\/thediplomat.com\/2023\/12\/japan-approves-16-5-increase-in-defense-spending-for-fy2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">set to increase defense spending<\/a> by 16.5 percent this year. He adds that U.S. allies should \u201cdo more to strengthen their multilateral defense ties\u201d and \u201craise defense spending.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One would think this is good news, given that U.S. administrations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/opinions\/1981\/03\/22\/footing-the-bill-for-nato\/06c1bebc-6dd1-4c92-9aa0-950f2c398003\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">since at least when Boot and his family emigrated to the United States during the Carter administration<\/a> have been failing to persuade our European NATO allies to pick up the slack and increase their defense budgets. But no, in Boot\u2019s eyes, this can only be understood as America \u201cturning its back on the world.\u201d <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-31cf0f3e59b8e5b22cdb717661e15331 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-31cf0f3e59b8e5b22cdb717661e15331\"><\/div>\n<p>Indeed, Boot bemoans the end of the decades-long \u201cunderlying, bipartisan consensus in U.S. politics that internationalism was in America\u2019s interest.\u201d Now that there\u2019s no such consensus, Boot cries, even when America gets what it wants from its allies.<\/p>\n<p>Boot was an early advocate for the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220526073157\/https:\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/weekly-standard\/the-case-for-american-empire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2001 article<\/a> titled \u201cThe Case for American Empire,\u201d Boot urged U.S. intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, writing: \u201cOnce Afghanistan has been dealt with, America should turn its attention to Iraq \u2026 Once we have deposed Saddam, we can impose an American-led, international regency in Baghdad, to go along with the one in Kabul.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In 2011, Boot <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/SB10001424052702303661904576451913355531024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">endorsed<\/a> the NATO intervention in Libya, a disaster <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-africa-44709974\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">still affecting Europe<\/a>. Thus does the bizarre illogic of Boot\u2019s opinions become manifest: our allies\u2019 increased defense spending makes them less client states dependent on America to protect them, and thus less willing to cooperate with the kinds of disastrous adventurism that has defined U.S. foreign policy the last two decades.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Foreign Policy Gurus Won\u2019t Admit the Obvious<\/h2>\n<p>Not that Boot is all that unusual among the Western foreign policy establishment in lamenting that growing U.S. concern over decades of military adventurism and foreign policy overreach is provoking worried responses from Washington\u2019s traditional security partners. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b1a2f7d01f952497e64ef0cde5f1352e fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b1a2f7d01f952497e64ef0cde5f1352e\"><\/div>\n<p>Earlier this year, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2024\/02\/14\/nato-chief-concedes-spending-criticism-as-allies-up-defense-budget.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">conceded to criticism<\/a> that some NATO members were guilty of underfinancing the coalition\u2019s defense budget, while also noting <em>a record 18 allies<\/em> were set to meet their military spending goals this year because of fears the United States might no longer fulfill once-presumed security guarantees. \u201cEuropean diplomats and officials said that continuing their upwards spending trajectory was the first of a three-plank Trump containment strategy,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/2e7fe5e0-2eb7-4ee3-be04-22f9ca856bd4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported the Financial Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Japan Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/commentary\/2024\/02\/13\/world\/world-watching-as-us-dithers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cited<\/a> numerous international security experts blaming Trump and a dysfunctional Congress for increased concerns about U.S. security commitments in the Pacific region. \u201cAllies are hedging,\u201d it noted, and then added, arrestingly, \u201cwhich can be a good thing. Governments are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-ukraine-crisis-is-a-wake-up-call-for-taiwan-and-japan\/\" title=\"The Ukraine Crisis Is A Wake-up Call For Taiwan And Japan\">increasing defense spending<\/a> and diversifying security relationships.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2024\/03\/23\/europe\/eu-ukraine-aid-us-defense-intl-cmd\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">March 23 CNN analysis<\/a> reported: \u201cEurope is trying to fill a US-shaped hole in funding for Ukraine,\u201d as if it is America, and not Ukraine\u2019s immediate neighbors, which needs to be most concerned about Russian aggression in eastern Europe.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Realist Victory in U.S. Foreign Policy<\/h2>\n<p>At a February campaign event, former President Trump recounted a story about an unidentified NATO member. Trump reported telling the NATO member: \u201cYou didn\u2019t pay? You\u2019re delinquent? No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In a rare exception from establishment hand-wringing over such threats, a <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2024\/03\/07\/trump-nato-europe-russia-defense-spending\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">March op-ed in Foreign Policy<\/a> acknowledged that Trump\u2019s \u201cinflammatory comments [about NATO] could have the positive effect of forcing European leaders to contribute more to their continent\u2019s defense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This reality frustrates Boot and other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-american-conservative-tried-to-warn-us\/\" title=\"\u2018The American Conservative\u2019 Tried To Warn Us\">foreign policy wonks<\/a>: the most effective mechanism for persuading our allies in Europe and Asia to take their own security more seriously has been to persuade them that their U.S. big brother may not always come to their rescue. Those are harsh words, especially for nations with whom we have enjoyed strategic partnerships for many decades. Yet it\u2019s the only tactic that has proved effective in a half-century of Washington finger-wagging at NATO and other allies.<\/p>\n<p>In truth, it\u2019s the harsh consequences of post-Cold War neoconservative and liberal foreign policy that necessitates such tough love toward our friends around the globe. Military intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brown.edu\/news\/2021-09-01\/costsofwar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cost<\/a> America approximately $8 trillion, resulted in the deaths of about 900,000 people, and <a href=\"https:\/\/watson.brown.edu\/costsofwar\/figures#:~:text=People%20Displaced%3A%2038%20Million,Yemen%2C%20Somalia%20and%20the%20Philippines.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">displaced more than 30 million people<\/a>. For decades we foolishly bled our military and budgets, making us weaker and less prepared for a future conflict that threatens our national security. <\/p>\n<p>Thus you would think anything that pushes our allies to do their fair share would be welcomed by the likes of Boot and his fellow travelers. That it has instead provoked criticism of increasingly vocal realism and restraint among conservatives tells you all you need to know about the group-think delusions of our internationalist \u201cexperts.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d953f5def6b73accbea50e39706e8ebd fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d953f5def6b73accbea50e39706e8ebd\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Political rivals inadvertently supported arguments during the $60 billion Ukraine subsidy bill debate in April, benefiting foreign policy hawks. Observers note a rising discourse in the U.S. towards bolstering defense<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":2238123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/51958575708_79f107e138_o-scaled-e1714700793241.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2238122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/51958575708_79f107e138_o-scaled-e1714700793241.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2238122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2238123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2238122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2238122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2238122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}