‘1945 in reverse’: What will happen if the US turns its back on Nato

If Pax Americana is truly over, the potential consequences are almost too large to comprehend. Except public discussion of this has remained slim... “It would be such a catastrophic change,” says Professor Justin Bronk, a senior fellow for airpower at the Royal United Services Institute. “It is difficult to talk about it without sounding like an alarmist lunatic.”...“I honestly think a lot of politicians in the West don’t understand what Nato is, and I’m speaking as a former Nato officer,” says Ed Arnold, a research fellow for European Security at RUSI. “Russia could take the whole of Estonia and the US could send an AWACs. It could impose sanctions. It could move an aircraft carrier around in the North Atlantic, and they would live up to the letter if not the spirit of Article Five. Europeans really need to understand that.”