NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created in 1949 to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. At the end of 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed. During those years the United States provided the bulk of the defense of NATO at a cost of $500 billion dollars. This allowed the European countries to divert much of their income toward social programs as opposed to defense. Americans often praised Europe for things like national healthcare and childcare. That is still the case today as witnessed by the US provides 45% of the funding to Ukraine. When Trump asked the question as to why the US is still paying the biggest portion of the NATO budget he was roundly criticized. The same question could be asked about all of the global institutions like the UN. As deglobaliztion expands and the US moves away from protecting the ocean shipping should other questions be asked, things like is the UN really helpful to the US.