in an interview last year with this newspaper, president obama offered a geopolitical defense of the trans-pacific partnership: <u+201c>if we don<u+2019>t write the rules, china will write the rules in that region<u+201d><u+2014>meaning east asia. as political prophecies go, this one has turned out to be considerably above average. two weeks after the american people formally interred the trade pact by electing donald trump, a front-page wall street journal headline said it all: <u+201c>china steps in as u.s. retreats on trade.<u+201d> momentum has intensified for the tpp<u+2019>s chinese-led alternative, the regional comprehensive economic partnership, which has been under negotiation since 2011. japan and australia, two of america<u+2019>s staunchest allies in the region, have stated their desire to conclude the rcep as quickly as possible. this seems likely to happen. and when it does, a huge 16-member trade bloc will emerge that includes the world<u+2019>s two most populous countries, its second, third and seventh-largest economies, and its largest muslim nation<u+2014>but not the u.s. no doubt east asian and pacific countries still will look to the american military as a counterweight to china<u+2019>s growing power. some will pursue new bilateral economic arrangements with washington. but make no mistake: we are witnessing a hinge moment in which the u.s. surrenders the economic and diplomatic initiative to the region<u+2019>s rising hegemon. the rapid unraveling of america<u+2019>s position in east asia underscores the urgent need to strengthen ties with europe. here too the trends are not encouraging. the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (ttip), a proposed economic framework linking europe and the u.s., is on life support. meanwhile, president-elect trump has repeatedly questioned the relevance of nato. this wavering on america<u+2019>s most successful military alliance, which mr. trump has called <u+201c>obsolete,<u+201d> could not have come at a worse time. the combined effect of the great recession and the flood of refugees from the middle east has lifted european leaders who question the value of transnational economic, political and military institutions. more than a few sympathize with vladimir putin <u+2019>s blend of assertive nationalism, moral traditionalism and anti-islamic zeal. some seem willing to strike their own deals with russia, whatever the consequences for europe. this trend extends well beyond hungary<u+2019>s viktor orban, a proponent of <u+201c>illiberal democracy<u+201d> and mr. putin<u+2019>s chief european enabler. it has reached the heart of europe. in france the collapse of the socialist party means that either the national front<u+2019>s marine le pen or the conservative fran<u+00e7>ois fillon will almost certainly be the next president. both want to break with incumbent president fran<u+00e7>ois hollande <u+2019>s pro-european policy and instead seek rapprochement with russia. in a recent interview with the bbc, ms. le pen said that <u+201c>there is absolutely no reason why we should turn systematically to the united states and why we should neglect russia.<u+201d> pressed on mr. putin<u+2019>s aggressive diplomatic and military moves, she replied: <u+201c>who is destabilizing europe today and its neighbors? it<u+2019>s the european union. and the united states has been very aggressive toward russia lately.<u+201d> there<u+2019>s no reason to be scared of russia, she declared, no reason to create a wall between russia and europe, and every reason to negotiate with mr. putin. mr. fillon, unlike ms. le pen, is a pillar of the political establishment. yet he joined her in denouncing president hollande<u+2019>s <u+201c>absurd<u+201d> russian policy. he believes that moscow<u+2019>s conduct is the west<u+2019>s fault. <u+201c>russia is a dangerous country,<u+201d> he declared in the final pre-election debate, <u+201c>if we treat it as we have treated it for the past five years.<u+201d> in a recent interview he demanded that russia be treated as a <u+201c>great nation<u+201d> and not made a pariah over its annexation of crimea. this is nothing new. as the respected french political analyst fran<u+00e7>ois heisbourg recently wrote in the financial times: <u+201c>mr. fillon is not being merely opportunistic on the putin question. he has pursued this course for many years, long before he was a possible candidate for the presidency.<u+201d> mr. putin has a grand strategy: restore russia as a dominant power by breaking the unity of the west. this is a particularly dangerous time for any american leader, let alone the next president, to call the commitment to nato into question. if alliance members stop believing that the u.s. will honor its obligations under article 5 of nato<u+2019>s charter, which treats any attack against one state as an attack against all, america<u+2019>s entire position in europe would be jeopardized. now is the time for the entire trans-atlantic community to rise up as one and demand that the president-elect unconditionally endorse the u.s. commitment to article 5. his secretary of state and secretary of defense, as soon as they are confirmed, should go to europe as a team to reassure anxious allies that we will not abandon them.
memo to trump: nato is not <u+2018>obsolete<u+2019> - wsj
noauthor