In all the heat and light and arguments across the Atlantic about Trump’s National Security Strategy and talks about talks for ending the war in Ukraine, there is one clear winner so far: Vladimir Putin.

The National Security Strategy (NSS) published at the end of November – more a manifesto of a Maga view of the world than a strategic blueprint – offers Putin two of the prime goals of his leadership of Mother Russia. By reserving most of its detailed criticism of Europe and its network of alliances, the NSS weakens the military strength of Nato and undermines confidence in the economic power of the EU.

As a superpower, it makes America now look less super.

Putin has aimed from the beginning to reduce the power of Nato and to get the United States to roll back from being Europe’s security guarantor. Now, with the American leadership telling Europeans to get on with their own defence, the US is at risk of losing a core element of its security – the maintenance of the Atlantic shield to protect its eastern flank.

It has done this by commanding a solid military alliance with Europeans, the UK, Canada and Turkey. Proportionally it has spent more on defences than most Europeans, true. But the US has been a beneficiary in several ways – not least in the sheer volume of military kit it has sold to the partners at huge profit to its defence industries. Often much of the kit has been overpriced or of........

© iNews