North Atlantic Treaty Organization

One week after Turkey president, and wannabe tyrant, Tayyip Erdogan launched a new diplomatic scandal when he accused Germany of "fascist actions" reminiscent of "Nazi practices" after various rallies organized by Turkish minister in Germany were cancelled ahead of an April referendum on granting Erdogan sweeping new presidential powers, he doubled down on Saturday after the Netherlands barred Turkey's Foreign Minister from flying to Rotterdam, to which Erdogan responded by calling the Dutch "fascists" and his NATO partner a Nazi remnant" as the scandal over Ankara campaigning among emigre

Via Andrei Akulov of The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Russia and NATO balancing on the brink of military conflict has been a hot topic ever since 2014 when the bilateral ties were frozen as a result of the events in Ukraine. Heightened tensions, arms control erosion and a plethora of divisive issues negatively affect the bilateral relationship, with misunderstanding and frustration hindering any attempts to turn the tide.

Via George Friedman and Jacob Shapiro of MauldinEconomics.com,

Submitted by Federico Pieraccini via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

While the U.S. outspends all NATO allies when it comes to overall defence spending in relation to her GDP, Statista's Dyfed Loesche notes - and President Trump is very well aware of - the U.S. is also the prime direct financer of NATO.

However, direct contribution are more evenly split between the major NATO powers. Germany for example, spends only 1.19 percent of her GDP into defence (USA = 3.61 percent) but seemingly pulls its weight when it comes to direct funding of NATO. This does not include contributions to particular military operations.