CNBC Daily Open: Dispatch from NATO, U.S. strikes Iran and Le Pen is back
The European leaders must have thought that one had been put to bed in Davos in January, but now it's back. No, I thought not.Game of whack-a-mole, anyone?— Steve Sedgwick
- ▪The European leaders must have thought that one had been put to bed in Davos in January, but now it's back.
- ▪No, I thought not.Game of whack-a-mole, anyone?— Steve Sedgwick
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
So-called "Trump Whisperer in Chief" NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was once again at the forefront of proceedings, lauding the progress made in "shifting the burden" for Europe's defense away from the other side of the Atlantic.And yet, as that great European military tactician Helmuth Von Moltke said over a hundred years ago: "No plan survives first contact with the enemy" (I prefer this version to Mike Tyson's alternative: "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face").Not that President Donald Trump is the enemy here, but he is certainly a major challenge for European leaders trying to hold NATO together.The problem is, whilst Rutte et al are trying to head off Trump on spending, the U.S.
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