North Atlantic Treaty Organization

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.

When asked which military power they’d want fighting on their side if attacked, citizens of four NATO nations said they would choose Russia. A Gallup poll has revealed that citizens of Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Slovenia would rather have Russia defending them than the US, reflecting changing perceptions of the United States role in global security. RT reports: Between October and December 2016, WIN/Gallup International asked around a thousand people in 66 countries who would be their go-to ally if attacked.

The Trump-Putin honeymoon continues to chill... that is if Trump's top foreign policy advisors speak for the president, which remains very much unclear.

One day after John McCain made a questionable diplomatic outburst when as part of a US diplomatic tour meant to reassure Europe, and NATO, of Trump's support, the Senator told participants at a Security Conference in Munich that the Trump administration is in "disarray", on Saturday morning Vice President Mike Pence did his best to return to conventional foreign policy after he vowed that the United States will "hold Russia accountable." In an address to the Munich Security Conference, Pence assured European allies that the U.S.