{"id":64074,"date":"2024-06-02T05:34:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-02T05:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/02\/as-challenges-pile-up-a-spate-of-summitry-spotlights-western-resolve\/"},"modified":"2024-06-02T05:34:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-02T05:34:08","slug":"as-challenges-pile-up-a-spate-of-summitry-spotlights-western-resolve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/02\/as-challenges-pile-up-a-spate-of-summitry-spotlights-western-resolve\/","title":{"rendered":"As Challenges Pile Up, a Spate of Summitry Spotlights Western Resolve"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/02\/multimedia\/02west-on-display-vkmf\/02west-on-display-vkmf-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"As Challenges Pile Up, a Spate of Summitry Spotlights Western Resolve\" title=\"As Challenges Pile Up, a Spate of Summitry Spotlights Western Resolve\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Western leaders are embarking on an extraordinary stretch of summitry this week, which could give them a chance to project unity to adversaries who increasingly view the West as something to be defied, disregarded or even repudiated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But as they gather on the windswept bluffs of Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday, and five weeks later in Washington for a NATO summit, the leaders will be tested across a range of divisive issues: <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/30\/us\/politics\/biden-ukraine-russia-weapons.html\" title=\"\">wars in Ukraine<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/31\/us\/politics\/biden-israel-remarks-speech.html\" title=\"\">Gaza<\/a>, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/27\/business\/economy\/china-us-tariffs.html\" title=\"\">the rise of China<\/a> and, perhaps most daunting, the future of the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On one level, D-Day and NATO are inspiring bookends: the first, a nostalgic commemoration of the Allied victory over Nazi tyranny; the second, a 75th birthday party for the alliance that grew out of the ashes of World War II. In between, there is a Ukraine peace conference in Switzerland and a Group of 7 leaders\u2019 summit in Italy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet beneath the pride and pomp, there will be nagging doubts, not least about the direction of American politics. President Biden will travel to France and Italy (he is expected to skip the Switzerland forum), but he is squeezing in the diplomacy amid an election-year battle against former President Donald J. Trump, whose victory in November would call into question the very survival of the alliance that Western leaders are spending so much time celebrating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump\u2019s shadow over the events is inescapable. The summits are bookended by his <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/30\/nyregion\/trump-convicted-hush-money-trial.html\" title=\"\">convictions last week for falsifying business records<\/a> and his sentencing, which is <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/30\/nyregion\/trump-conviction-hush-money-trial.html\" title=\"\">scheduled for July 11<\/a>, the final day of the NATO meeting in Washington. That will provide European leaders with a front-row view of America\u2019s political dysfunction, even as Mr. Biden strives to unite them against the Russian threat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere\u2019s a split screen,\u201d said Charles A. Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University. \u201cWe\u2019re experiencing an era of revival and renewal in the Western alliance, and these various summits will capture that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cBut we\u2019re going to be celebrating at the very moment that everybody is worried about the next American election,\u201d said Professor Kupchan, who worked on European affairs in the Obama administration. \u201cFor the first time since World War II, the internal threat to the West is more acute than the external threat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Western anxiety is not limited to concerns about the United States. Fears of a populist resurgence are rippling across Europe \u2014 from Italy, where a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/07\/world\/europe\/italy-meloni-orban-ukraine-funding.html\" title=\"\">right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni<\/a>, will play host at the Group of 7 meeting, to France and Germany, where leaders are facing rising discontent and restive challengers on the right. Far-right parties are <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/05\/world\/europe\/europe-far-right.html\" title=\"\">expected to perform strongly in European Parliament elections<\/a>, which start on Thursday and could strike a discordant note amid the tributes to the heroes of D-Day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEuropeans were already thinking this whole series of criminal cases were helping Trump rather than hindering him,\u201d said Kim Darroch, who served as Britain\u2019s ambassador to the United States during the Trump administration. \u201cThis will be part of every conversation between the delegations at all these summits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to Washington, said, \u201cEurope entertains doubts not so much about the rule of law as about the adulthood of the U.S. electorate, part of which appears to be extremely gullible and too susceptible to the temptations of Trumpian populism.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To Mr. Ischinger, who ran the Munich Security Conference until 2022, Mr. Trump\u2019s sentencing will be an ill-timed distraction from a NATO meeting that could \u201coffer a unique opportunity to restore faith in our common vision of freedom and to display resolve instead of hesitation, courage instead of fear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Biden took a decisive step in that direction last week by allowing Ukraine to use American weapons in limited military strikes inside Russia. That decision could now galvanize other Western countries, some of which were already leaning in that direction, and it eliminated a divide between Washington and European capitals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Mr. Biden will put strict limitations on the use of American weapons for fear of escalation with Russia, a nuclear-armed adversary, and where to draw the line will remain a point of contention within the Western alliance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Biden also needs to do a better job of persuading the Europeans to pick up more of the burden of defending Ukraine, diplomats said. The congressional approval in April of a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/20\/us\/politics\/house-foreign-aid-bill.html\" title=\"\">$61 billion aid package for Kyiv, after a lengthy delay<\/a>, underlined the degree to which Ukraine\u2019s \u2014 and Europe\u2019s \u2014 security still depends on the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cEuropeans must grasp that, absent a bigger effort on their part, there could be significant U.S. disengagement from the alliance, particularly if Donald Trump returns to the White House in January,\u201d said Peter Westmacott, who served as Britain\u2019s ambassador to the United States, France and Turkey.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAt some point, there are likely to be negotiations to end the conflict,\u201d Mr. Westmacott said. \u201cMy worry is that if Ukraine\u2019s supporters do not do more, and soon, that negotiation could turn out to be a surrender \u2014 which would only encourage Putin to push his luck further.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Russia has not been invited to the Swiss peace conference, which has led other major powers like China to spurn the gathering. Mr. Biden\u2019s absence will also diminish potential outcomes, though the White House has said it will send a delegation. Mr. Putin would give Mr. Biden a standing ovation if he didn\u2019t show, said Ukraine\u2019s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zelensky\u2019s frustration with Washington underscores the linchpin role of the United States in the web of alliances. Shoring up those relationships has been an important priority of the Biden administration, and analysts said that these summits would showcase the progress it had made, not just in Europe but also in Asia, where Japan and South Korea have drawn closer to the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Biden\u2019s stalwart support of Israel in the war in Gaza has opened a divide between the United States and some European countries. Ireland, Norway and Spain recently recognized a Palestinian state. But Britain, France and Germany have so far avoided a split with the United States, despite the fraught domestic politics in their countries and growing discomfort with Israel\u2019s conduct of the war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For all his diplomatic efforts, some experts say, Mr. Biden\u2019s emphasis on alliances has planted the seeds for future problems. It has made the allies overly dependent on the United States, which is why the specter of Mr. Trump will haunt the meetings in France, Switzerland, Italy and the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe centerpiece of the Biden strategy is alliances and allies; they\u2019re incredibly proud of that,\u201d said Jeremy Shapiro, the research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. \u201cTrump basically thinks allies are relatives who come to your house, borrow your money and use your pool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cBut the Biden administration has made the problem worse,\u201d Mr. Shapiro said, \u201cbecause they\u2019ve created so much reliance on the U.S. at the very moment that the world shouldn\u2019t be relying on it, because of Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/02\/world\/europe\/dday-nato-summits-western-alliance.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Western leaders are embarking on an extraordinary stretch of summitry this week, which could give them a chance to project unity to adversaries who increasingly view the West as something to be defied, disregarded or even repudiated. But as they gather on the windswept bluffs of Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/06\/02\/multimedia\/02west-on-display-vkmf\/02west-on-display-vkmf-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2696,45885,20273,61352,12261,61353,8537],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64076,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64074\/revisions\/64076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}