By James R. Holmes
Apathy kills in alliance politics. U.S. allies should begin defending themselves if they want America to defend them.
A collective shrug. That’s the last reaction a free-rider wants from the person, organization, or nation on which it’s free-riding when the going gets tough. The best way to avoid it? Bear your part of the load. Yep, the Naval Diplomat is looking at you, Europe, and Japan, and Taiwan, and anyone else who depends on American military help in times of strife.
Free-riding, of course, is letting others bear the burden or expense of supplying public goods like maritime security and military defense. The United States free-rode on the Royal Navy during Great Britain’s age of naval mastery. Thanks, Queen Victoria!!! Hey, if someone else is willing to pay any price, bear any burden on your behalf, why say no? It’s human nature.
But sometimes defying human nature is the wisest, and safest, course. The United States took up the slack on the high seas as Britain went into decline. During the 20th century the republic made itself the Western Hemisphere’s, and then the free world’s, chief defender. Accordingly, many Eurasian allies now free-ride on the United States. They spend a trifling amount on defense relative to their means — and relative to what America spends relative to its means.
Indeed, we can affix numbers to this bad habit. Many allies dedicate under 2 percent of GDP to their armed forces, whereas Washington spent 4.4 percent of GDP in 2012. U.S. taxpayers shelled out an average of 6 percent of GDP annually throughout the Cold War. Whether an ally matches what America spends makes a rough-and-ready gauge for an ally’s mettle. Few measure up.
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