The European dream of peace and security for all of Europe can be within reach by correcting an ongoing and prevailing Europe NATO malady.

While NATO was originally based on a model of shared responsibility, it has inappropriately morphed instead into 21 -out-of 32-member country exceptions for non 2% GDP contributing allies. With a Ukrainian-Russian war ongoing, this is detrimental to the NATO alliance and the rest of non-NATO Europe, particularly Ukraine.

While NATO countries ought to have fulfilled their GDP defense obligation of 2%, this has woefully never been done.

The vast majority of NATO countries maneuvered not to fulfill this obligation. European countries comprise 30 of the 32 NATO members, together with the U.S. and Canada. Of the 30 European members, only 10 (33%) fulfilled their 2023 2% GDP goal.

This leaves a sobering 20 European NATO countries (67%) that do not fulfill their minimum. The “Honorable 10 European NATO Countries” that do pay their dues are: Poland (3.9%), Greece 3.01%, Estonia 2.73%, Lithuania 2.54%, Finland 2.45%, Romania 2.44%, Hungary 2.43%, Latvia (2.27%), UK (2.07%), and Slovak Republic (2.03%). Outside of Europe, the U.S. paid 3.49% of GDP and Canada 1.38%. Overall, it is the 10 honorable European countries and the U.S. that carry Europe’s defense burden.

A decade ago, the Obama administration made it clear in regard to NATO countries not meeting their funding obligations: “Everyone has to step up.” The subsequent Trump administration called for “burden-sharing.” Yet no improvement has been made. 

Europe's welfare state, by the way, has grown exonentially as its defense spending has fallen, and CESIfo, a respected European think tank, has many papers exploring this issue.

The non-fulfilling NATO countries have failed to grasp that today’s global security threat is not just limited to Europe. Their assumption that the U.S. would always be available in an emergency to protect them is no longer viable.

The U.S. is overextended militarily and economically beyond Europe due to its worldwide security obligations. By necessity, America’s security focus has shifted away from Europe to two other strategic regions: The Indo-Pacific and the Middle East. These increased global threats have necessarily drawn down U.S. defense resources away from Europe. This should have been recognized by the non-contributing European countries long ago, but it hasn't. It is now time for Europe to have a reality check and to initiate new corrective actions to remedy the ongoing malaise. The sooner the better.

The non-compliant NATO countries justifiably deserve to be nudged out of their self-imposed “NATO Welfare Cocoon.”

Everything is to be gained by it. While Russia is rated as the world’s third or fourth military power, it would pale in comparison to an honestly and fully funded European NATO superpower.

Economically, it would become a European Titan v. a Russian Pauper. Demographically, it is NATO Europe’s billion inhabitants v. Russia’s 144 million inhabitants. The European component of NATO alone would then have an undeniable deterrence supremacy that would cast a protective veil over all of the like-minded European countries.  As such, Russia would cease to be a bona fide threat to Europe. 

The most prominent measure is to correct the present European security deficiency is to end the manipulation by the majority non-paying NATO countries at the expense of the ten fully contributing European member countries. As currently maneuvered by the majority member countries, the position of NATO Secretary General is locked into one of their own. As such it is important that a new Secretary General be appointed from one of the ten honorable contributing countries This would reshape the leadership of NATO Headquarters into one which would effectively move to have all members contribute the minimum 2% of GDP to defense. 

Within NATO’s 2% GDP paying countries, there are well qualified senior European leaders ready to lead NATO Headquarters. Such a new leadership will be more capable of nudging its allies to pay up. It will result in a fully funded NATO with a viable and credible deterrence power within Europe. 

A new-era Secretary General leadership to also reshape NATO and redirect it toward Europe’s real-world milieu with redefined core principles. These principles may well include: (1) Europe itself is now Europe’s strategic responsibility, as allied with the U.S. and Canada; (2) Realizing America’s staggering global defense commitments extend beyond Europe; (3) the U.S. Army can no longer to be deemed as Europe’s defensive army. (4) All European members are to contribute their minimum 2% of GDP; (5) Europe is no longer to be afraid of Russia, Russia is to be deterred by a powerful NATO Europe.

The underlying principle addressed here is that a fully funded NATO would become the dominant defensive power in Europe. The resulting nexus of such NATO supremacy interconnected with the remainder of Europe’s non-NATO countries is undeniable.

In terms of Russia’s own blustering terminology of “Russia’s Near Abroad,” a new reformed and fully funded "European Centric NATO Superpower" may tangibly view Europe’s non-NATO countries as “NATO’s Near Abroad”.

Such a resulting nexus of a new NATO superpower together with its shared interests with its neighboring European countries will strongly influence peace and security throughout all of Europe.