Commentary

NATO Allies Left America Hanging on Iran

Posted on by Bill McCarthy

And the Alliance Will Never Be the Same

When the United States needed its NATO partners during the Iran conflict, the major European allies mostly said no. No meaningful basing rights. No serious operational support. No willingness to share the risk. President Trump called out the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and especially Spain. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been equally blunt: the United States is “very upset,” and the alliance is starting to look like a one-way street. This was not a minor disagreement. It was a stress test of the alliance, and Europe failed it. NATO is not formally finished, but the old assumptions are dead.

What Actually Happened

The United States conducted military operations against Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism and a direct threat to American forces and interests in the region. Washington asked for practical help from NATO allies—access to bases, overflight rights, logistical cooperation, and political solidarity. The responses from the big European powers were tepid or outright refusals. Some allowed limited defensive use of facilities. Most declined active participation, citing legal concerns, domestic politics, or the claim that “this is not Europe’s war.”

Trump made clear he did not need European combat forces. He wanted loyalty and basic facilitation from countries that have relied on American security guarantees for decades. Instead he got excuses. Rubio later underscored the point: refusing even basing and overflight undermines the entire premise of the alliance. Smaller, more vulnerable members showed more willingness. The wealthy core of Western Europe did not.

This Was a Betrayal of the Bargain

NATO exists because the United States underwrites European security. American troops, nuclear guarantees, and logistics have protected the continent since the Cold War. In return, allies were supposed to treat an attack on one as an attack on all—and to support American interests when the leading power acts against shared threats. Iran’s nuclear ambitions, missile program, and proxy network threaten global energy routes and American personnel. Europe benefits from the free flow of oil and from the degradation of Iranian power. Yet when the bill came due, the major allies prioritized domestic political comfort over alliance solidarity.

This fits a longer pattern of free-riding. Most European members still fall short of defense spending commitments. They have under-invested in hard power for decades while lecturing the United States on values. The Iran episode simply made the imbalance impossible to ignore.

What Happens Next

The alliance will not dissolve tomorrow. Too many institutional interests and residual security needs keep it alive. But the relationship is being repriced. Rubio has already said the United States will have to re-examine whether NATO still serves American purposes or has become a mechanism for Europe to enjoy protection without reciprocity. Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of reduced commitments or even exit if the pattern continues.

Expect several concrete shifts. First, sharper conditionality: future American support will be tied more explicitly to European performance on burden-sharing, basing access, and political backing. Second, greater focus on bilateral and minilateral arrangements with the few allies that actually deliver. Third, continued pressure on defense spending and industrial capacity so Europe can handle more of its own neighborhood. Fourth, a harder American line on issues where European free-riding imposes costs on the United States.

Europe will protest and claim the United States is abandoning the rules-based order. The reality is simpler. Alliances are not suicide pacts or charity. When the strongest member repeatedly carries the load and receives little in return at moments of need, the arrangement changes. The Iran refusal was a clarifying moment. NATO as a blank check for European security is finished. What replaces it will be more transactional, more demanding of the allies, and far less sentimental. That is not the end of the West. It is the end of the illusion that America will indefinitely underwrite partners who will not stand with it.

Help American Liberty PAC in our mission to elect conservatives and save our nation. Support – American Liberty PAC