UN-do NATO

"As far as I am concerned, this is put up or shut up time for both NATO and the UN. If the UN cannot help keep peace in the world (via their charter) dissolve them." 

There have been many times while on the campaign trail that Donald Trump would say something and eyes would roll. "There he goes again - spouting off about something he knows nothing about." Really? How about NATO? When Donald Trump said that NATO had outlived its usefulness, it was almost like speaking blasphemy. And then to put frosting on the cake, he called out a bunch of NATO members for being "free riders" and they were paying practically nothing for dues.

This past week the NATO honchos got together for a meeting in Brussels. It was also a chance to show off the new Taj Mahal type of headquarters which is nearing completion. And what a headquarters this is! Fancy and big (and expensive). Once finished (it is 80% done right now), it will house 4,000 NATO members and cost slightly over $1.25B. 

As we know, the United States pays the lion's share of the NATO budget - over 22%. Germany and the UK also pay a fair amount and then it drops off sharply from there. I tried to find out how much of the this new building we paid for, but I can't find an exact figure. Even the President, when he was in Brussels joked that "he has never asked what this new building cost." My question is deeper than that - what is the purpose of this building? In fact, what is the purpose of NATO?

My opinion is simple. NATO and the UN are both huge organization of which the United States pays a huge amount of money to support. True, we get a bit of help (heavy on the term "a bit") from NATO in the War on Terror, but we get nada, zip, nothing out of the UN (except of course, social engineering). 

NATO was a good shield against the Warsaw pact during the Cold War. "Was" is the right word. Now it offers very little. When President Trump chided members for not living up to the 2% of GDP rule, some could be seen snickering on the sidelines. Why? They know that the US does not have the guts to do anything about it. Or do they? I am thinking our new President just might.

As far as I am concerned, this is put up or shut up time for both NATO and the UN. If the UN cannot help keep peace in the world (via their charter) dissolve them. They are no better at peacekeeping than the League of Nations was. The same goes for NATO. If the "free rider" mentality continues, dissolve it. The old Europe is over. The new Europe is lost.

What in the world are we going to do with this shiny new NATO headquarters should NATO be dissolved? I am sure that the Trump empire could make a nice five star hotel out of it. That is, once he is done being President.