Keeping an Eye on the Geopolitical Ball | The 60th Munich Security Conference: Europe must prepare

This week on Keeping an Eye on the Geopolitical Ball, Jamie Shea, Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe, looks ahead at the Munich Security Conference, which is the annual gathering of the security policy community. Posing a great opportunity to assess the transatlantic temperature, Jamie predicts the mood to be rather downbeat. Donald Trump’s statement, that if he were president, the United States would not provide NATO protection to those countries who are not reaching the 2% defence spending benchmark and even invited Putin to attack, weakens NATO deterrence and leads to a more uncertain world. Jamie outlines what precautions Europe must take to face challenges posed by a weakened transatlantic security structure, an increasingly Russian aggressor and escalation in the Middle East.