Donald Trump leaves after second day of the NATO Summit in Brussels, Belgium, on July 12, 2018. Ye Pingfan/Press Association. All rights reserved.
A summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) is not usually an occasion for drama. That became different when Donald Trump became United States president. At the gathering in Brussels on 11-12 July, his presence was bound to overshadow all else, an expectation confirmed when he openly lambasted European partners (especially Germany) over their supposed freeriding on the US, dependency on Russian gas, and general unreliability.
But to understand the real challenges facing Nato, it is best to put most of Trump's impact to one side on the grounds that it has more to do with his narcissistic need to be always the centre of attention than anything else.
