US President Donald Trump has repeatedly complained that Europe’s Nato members are not spending enough on the alliance.

He believes the US should not have to bear the burden of funding the defence of the continent. Nato was set up 70 years ago as a collective defence system to guard against potential threats from the former Soviet Union. So with the US president visiting Europe in June, what does the US contribute towards maintaining Nato compared with the other 28 members?

The United States accounts for nearly 70% of the total spending on defence by all Nato members.

In terms of its GDP (gross domestic product, the total value of goods produced and services provided) it spent roughly 3.4% on defence in 2018, according to Nato estimates.

The point to remember is the US is a global military superpower, so has defence commitments not only in Europe but around the world.

One report by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) estimated that direct spending by the US on European security accounted for less than 6% of its total defence outlay.

This includes money for running Nato as an organisation and for US defence activity in Europe – the costs of missile and other defence systems and military and civilian personnel stationed in the continent. This amount came to $35.8bn (£28.4bn) in 2018, says the IISS’s Lucie Beraud-Sudreau.

But she adds that in the event of a major crisis in Europe, the US may well draw on more of its $643bn total defence outlay to reinforce Nato. Läs artikel

Naturligtvis är jag glad över att Mats Parner i bokflödet har hittat min bok ”DOMARE i laglösa länder” och mycket tacksam för att han tagit sig tiden att recensera den, tillika i positiva ordalag! Jag ger honom helt rätt när han fått intrycket att jag misstror Natos motiv för Kosovo-kriget (eller snarare USA:s motiv). Han önskar att jag konkretiserar mitt resonemang. Jag förklarar min brist med att berättelsen inte var tänkt att bli bok när jag skrev.

När nu berättelsen lett till debatt tar jag tillfället – med uppenbar risk för att bli kraftigt ifrågasatt när jag inte kan bevisa mina påståenden – att berätta lite mera om varför mitt misstroende uppstått.

Under min tid i Kosovo åren 1999 till 2010 fick jag i möten med högre amerikanska officerare vid upprepade tillfällen höra att USA före år 1999 bistått den Kosovoalbanska befrielsearmén UCK med råd och materiel i syfte att Kosovo skulle skiljas från Serbien. Före Natos bombningar av Serbien hade USA via sin spionverksamhet också kartlagt målen för bombningarna. USA:s egentliga mål var att få en ny bas nära Mellanöstern eftersom dess baser i västra Tyskland var under avveckling. Med ett självständigt och lierat Kosovo skulle målet nås. Basen fick namnet Camp Bondsteel och är i dag befäst med cirka 7 000 amerikanska soldater! I basen finns ett fängelse typ Guantanamo och utbildar USA Kosovos militär.

Ett ytterligare litet skäl till mitt misstroende till Nato som sådant och dess funktion är när jag från brittiska officerare fått frågan hur följande situation skulle kunna beivras: Brittiska styrkor patrullerar gränsen mellan Serbien och Kosovo i Presevodalen och träfffar på en UCK-grupp väl utrustad med vapen och sprängämnen. Befolkningen i området består av serber och albaner. UCK vill fördriva serberna från området. Britterna beslutar sig för att avväpna och omhänderta UCK-gruppen. Plötsligt kommer amerikansk trupp till gruppens undsättning. De två Natoländerna står med vapen riktade mot varandra. Britterna viker undan och UCK-männen kan fullfölja sitt uppdrag.

Kort sagt, den starkaste medlemmen i Nato bestämmer när det ”bränner till”! Läs artikel

Se också Mats Björkenfeldts presentation av Christer Karphammars bok tidigare på denna sajten.

The US’s disruptive America First approach is not one Britain can support any longer.

As usual, Mike Pompeo was brutally frank. Speaking in London last month, the US secretary of state warned that future bilateral intelligence sharing would be at risk if Britain allowed the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei access to its new 5G rollout. “The US has an obligation to ensure the places where we operate [are] within trusted networks, and that is what we will do,” he said.

The issue might appear arcane. But Pompeo’s threat, which Donald Trump will reiterate during his state visit, beginning on Monday, sent a chill through the diplomatic, defence and security establishment. In an age of rapidly diminishing influence, Britain still prides itself on its intelligence gathering, counter-terrorism and counter-espionage capability, as well as agencies such as GCHQ and its new offshoot, the National Cyber Security Centre.

This capability is recognised and respected – and is a main reason why Washington maintains a close alliance. Britain brings something substantial to the top table – and that helps secure its place there. By publicly questioning this collaboration, Pompeo thrust a well-aimed dagger into the heart of the “special relationship”. […]

But that serious damage has already been done is not in dispute. “The US has taken a number of high-profile unilateral foreign policy decisions that are contrary to the interests of the UK,” the committee (från Överhuset , min anm red) said in a report, UK Foreign Policy in a Shifting World Order, debated in the Lords last month.

“US withdrawal from the Paris agreement on climate change, the Iran nuclear deal and the United Nations human rights council, and the imposition of trade tariffs on its allies, undermine efforts to tackle pressing global challenges of critical importance to the UK.” Läs artikel

Tillsammans med delar av Totalförsvaret bjöd Södra skånska regementet in allmänheten till en spännande dag på Revingehed där både det civila och militära försvaret visades upp.

En mulen majdag som mer liknade en höstdag hindrade inte över 23 000 personer att ta sig till Södra skånska regementet under Regementets dag. De som var på plats bjöds på stridsförevisningar, flyguppvisning med Jas 39 Gripen och flera olika utställningar med fordon och utrustning.

– Helt fantastiskt att så många ville ta del av vår verksamhet. Vi hoppades på 15 000 men det här slår alla rekord, säger major Martin Kjellman som varit projektledare för dagen.

Får rekryterna som avslutar sin grundutbildning om mindre än två veckor blev dagen extra speciell då de fick möjligheten att visa sina familjer runt sitt andra hem.

– Det är riktigt roligt att få bjuda in och visa familjen runt på området. De får ju se hur ens vardag ser ut och får se vad vi gör helt enkelt, säger vagnchefen Linnea Lindfors.

Anna Cronsell var på plats med sina två döttrar, föräldrar och sin syster med barn. De har besökt Regementets dag under flera år.

– Både jag och min syster har gjort värnplikten så vi känner att vi vill föra det vidare till våra barn. Jag tycker att det är en jättestor möjlighet för barnfamiljer att komma ut och se hur försvaret fungerar och alla annan blåljuspersonal. Läs pressmeddelande

For over a week now, foreign units have been in place in Lulea, Orland, Bodo, Rovaniemi, Jokkmokk, Hakkas and Gallivare to carry out the final preparations for the start of the exercise. […]

The multinational air training exercise, Arctic Challenge Exercise 2019, ACE 19, is being conducted in northern Sweden, Norway and Finland from 22 May to 4 June. This year, Sweden is exercise leader with the responsibility for the exercise, which is being conducted for the fourth time within the framework of the Nordic cooperation and the Cross Border agreement between the countries. The exercise is a further development of air training exercises conducted in previous years, and is planned to take place every other year. This year, more than 140 aircraft are taking part, including tanker aircraft and air command aircraft from nine different countries.  […]

Parts of the US and British units have had advance forces at Lulea Kallax airport for just over a week now to set everything up before the fighter aircraft and other personnel were in place. The US F-16 planes from the South Carolina National Guard landed on 16 May, and the British Typhoon planes from Royal Air Force Lossiemouth, Scotland, landed on 20 May.[…]

In addition to the threat from the airborne opponents, there are also advanced threats on the ground in the form of Norwegian, German and US air defence units grouped around northern Sweden. A Dutch unit is stationed at Lulea Kallax airport with Link 16 – a tactical data link that makes it possible to communicate encrypted information in real time in the form of images, voice communication, navigation data and more between different combat forces. Läs pressmeddelande

[…] Despite that, Russian conventional forces continue to face “significant limitations,” as “years of neglect have atrophied much of its force-projection capabilities,” Wheelbarger said during a speech at The Atlantic Council. […]

Outside of Syria, the Trump administration is deeply concerned by the growing relationship between Moscow and Turkey, expressed most concretely in Turkey’s plans to buy the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system. The deal is threatening Turkey’s role in the F-35 program, and underscores Russia’s ability to get inside US relationships with foreign countries, including efforts to split the NATO alliance without firing a shot.

“Let’s be clear: the S-400 is a Russian system designed to try to shoot down aircraft like the F-35” Wheelbarger said, calling the deal a “monumental challenge for us.” The deal, which both Russian and Turkish officials say is wrapped up, “would be devastating — not only to the F-35 program on which the West has placed its modernized integrated air capability — but it would rupture Turkish interoperability with NATO, which is a key aspect to the defense of the alliance.”[…]

As NATO continues to search for new ways to counter Russian malign influence throughout Europe and the Arctic, the alliance is putting the final touches on its first new military strategy since the Cold War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford said this week.

He said the plan, which is classified, was approved by US and European military chiefs last week and is being sent to each NATO capital for approval, which will likely take some time.

“It is the first NATO military strategy in decades,” Dunford said at the Brookings Institution. “It clearly articulates the challenges that confront NATO and it provides the framework for the various plans that will be in place if deterrence fails,” he added. Läs artikel

On 28 May 2019, departing Appellate Body member Peter Van den Bossche delivered his farewell speech to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. This is what he said:

[…] Second, to the extent that the concerns addressed in the reform proposals are legitimate, and some of them certainly are, these concerns can be addressed without undermining the essential features of the current system. The proposal made by Thailand on 25 April 2019 (WT/GC/W/769) shows the way forward in this regard. In an attempt to address the concerns raised by the United States, some other WTO members have made proposals that would significantly change essential features of the current system. It is, however, not clear to me, as I am sure it is not clear to most of you, whether any reform of the current system, short of its virtual elimination, will satisfy the United States. The United States has stated – most recently at the General Council meeting of 7 May 2019 – that the Appellate Body should follow the rules set out in the DSU. Nobody would disagree with that, but the United States has largely remained silent on what this actually means and has not engaged in the discussions on any of the reform proposals currently on the table. […]

I am afraid that – in spite of the most determined efforts of Ambassador Walker – efforts for which I would like to commend him, as well as the efforts of many WTO members – it is ever more likely that the current crisis will not be resolved by 11 December 2019. If this is indeed the case, the Appellate Body will no longer be able to hear and decide new appeals from that day onwards. As set out in Article 16.4 of the DSU, a panel report cannot be adopted by the DSB and become legally binding until after completion of the appeal. One can predict with confidence that, once the Appellate Body is paralyzed, the losing party will in most cases appeal the panel report and thus prevent it from becoming legally binding. Why would WTO members still engage in panel proceedings if panel reports are likely to remain unadopted and thus not legally binding? As from 11 December 2019, it is therefore not only appellate review but also the entire WTO dispute settlement system that will no longer be fully operational and may progressively shut down. Läs artikel

I dag har operatörerna säkerhetsansvaret för nät och kommunikation, men enligt ett tilläggsförslag till radiospektrumutredningen, som skickades på remiss i veckan, bör Post- och telestyrelsen samråda med Säpo och Försvarsmakten när nya tillstånd ska utfärdas, skriver Di.

– Den här delen av infrastrukturen blir allt viktigare för samhällets funktion och då ökar samhällets intresse för att kontrollera att de här kommunikationsvägarna finns även i händelse av höjd beredskap eller liknande, men också att de är säkra emot eventuella angripare eller någon part som skulle kunna vilja oss illa, säger Ygeman till tidningen. Läs artikel