[Music]
the trump presidency is full of viral
photos
but take a look at this one from 2018
it's the leaders of america's closest
allies
all looking in one direction and
president trump looking at another
it's just a photo but it speaks to one
of the biggest questions in the world
right now
almost 70 years ago the us built a
network of alliances that helped make it
the most powerful country on earth
but today the future of those alliances
is in doubt
and they were in trouble even before
donald trump took office
now the world is watching a u.s election
that could determine what the future
looks like
so how did we get here what is trump's
vision for
america's role in the world and what's
the alternative
[Music]
in the beginning the us had just one
alliance with france during the
revolutionary war against great britain
but after the us won the war it backed
out and that's because back then
allying with another country usually
served one purpose
alliances were primarily used to fight
and win specific wars
the us was already protected by two
giant oceans
so for the next 150 years america was
alone
until 1941. the united states of america
was suddenly and deliberately attacked
when japan attacked a u.s naval base
it shattered the idea that oceans could
protect the us any longer
so they formed an alliance with these
countries and declared war on japan and
its allies
together they won the war but faced a
very different world in the aftermath
after world war ii there were only two
major powers the us
and the soviet union european countries
were weak
and some worried the soviets might
invade them and spread communism
to protect against that the u.s formed a
collective alliance with 11 other
countries
the north atlantic treaty organization
or nato
the agreement was simple an armed attack
on one member would be regarded as an
attack on all
requiring every member to come to its
assistance
but the reality was more complicated the
us had a massive military
while these countries had weak ones if
any at all that meant nato was really a
guarantee by the u.s to protect all
these countries from attacks
it was risky but it gave the us leverage
over countries that now depended on them
for protection
it used that leverage to align those
countries with its own foreign policy
and many allowed the us to build
military bases inside their borders
giving the u.s a first line of defense
against the soviets
the u.s also saw threats elsewhere in
1948 north korea had become a communist
country
and in 1949 so did china so the u.s
signed individual alliances with six
more countries
the us also signed a collective alliance
with 21 countries in latin america
by 1960 the soviet union was surrounded
by countries that if they attacked would
trigger war with the us
for hundreds of years alliances had been
used to fight and win specific
wars this was something new the real
gamble that the united states was taking
was the idea that it would use alliances
to keep
wars from starting at all one of the
first tests of this idea came in berlin
the city laid deep in soviet-controlled
east germany but was divided between the
nato countries and the soviets
in 1961 the soviet leader told western
powers to leave
instead the u.s and its allies quickly
moved troops into berlin
and the u.s publicly committed to uphold
its promise
the united states is there the united
kingdom and france are there
the pledge of nato is there in response
the soviets built a wall through the
city
and back down the u.s guarantee also
helped prevent further wars in taiwan
and korea
it proved that this system worked but
only if america's enemies and allies
actually trusted that the us would
follow through
so for the next 60 years u.s presidents
said it out loud
a nation cannot remain great if it
betrays
its allies and lets down its friends
our ties with japan and our european
allies are stronger than ever
we will strengthen our historic ties and
assure them of our support and firm
commitment
and it worked the soviets believed it
world war
iii never happened and the u.s won the
cold war
history is unfolding in the soviet union
last one out of the soviet union
please turn out the lights united states
recognizes
and welcomes the emergence of a free
independent
and democratic russia between 1989 and
1991
the soviet union and its communist
allies in europe fell apart
now the u.s was the world's only
superpower and most of its allies were
safe from invasion
but for nato that created an existential
question
should the alliance go out of business
because its primary adversary
had disassembled itself or should it
find
a new case for its being european
leaders and many american leaders
supported keeping nato around to support
democracy and security in europe
ultimately the best strategy to ensure
our security and to build a durable
peace
is to support the advance of democracy
elsewhere it would be a catastrophe for
american interest
if instability were to alter the current
situation in europe do we want the peace
to last
in 1999 nato added three former soviet
allies
poland the czech republic and hungary
and nato started intervening in
conflicts outside of its membership
in 1999 it bombed serbian forces
fighting in kosovo
nato also helped the u.s invade
afghanistan after the 9 11 attacks in
2001
and supported parts of the war in iraq
in 2003
meanwhile in asia the us had stayed
close with south korea and japan to
counter north korea
but the fall of the soviet union had
made the alliances with these countries
harder to justify and those
relationships in a lot of ways went
adrift and that all created something of
a soft strategic
underbelly in southeast asia some u.s
leaders began to question the cost of
those alliances
the u.s had asked nato allies to spend 2
percent of their gdp on defense
but few countries were meeting that goal
so they urged nato along with south
korea and japan
to increase their spending while still
reaffirming its promise to back its
allies
their cause is america's cause we will
defend our allies and our interests
america will always act alone if
necessary
to protect our people and our allies
still these alliances were drifting
and two countries were starting to test
their weak points
russian flames again bombing georgian
targets this morning
in 2004 nato had added seven more
members
including these three known as the
baltic states leaders in russia became
concerned that nato had reached its
borders
and after nato made plans to add georgia
and ukraine it decided to act
russia invaded georgia in 2008 than
ukraine in 2014
preventing either country from joining
nato
but those invasions also had another
purpose you can think about
russia's invasion of ukraine as a
prelude to what could happen if russia
decided to make a quick fade accompli
grab in the baltics
russia was building up a massive
military presence along its border
and now its willingness to invade its
neighbors raised an uncomfortable
question
would the u.s and its allies actually be
willing to go to war to defend one of
these small
countries over in asia
china developed a similar strategy
since the end of the cold war china has
become the second biggest economy in the
world
and it built a military and missile
stockpile capable of controlling this
whole region
both russia and china have developed
military strategies
that seek to demonstrate two american
allies
that the united states can't protect
them they've also introduced strategies
that advance their own regional
interests
but in ways that wouldn't trigger a u.s
response
russia began launching cyber attacks all
over europe and spreading disinformation
in support of radical politicians
in the south china sea china turned
remote reefs into man-made islands with
military bases on them
all in an area disputed by many
countries
it's also issued huge loans and build
infrastructure projects in dozens of
countries around the world
giving them not just economic leverage
in those places but political leverage
as well
russia and china leave the united states
and its allies scrambling to respond
and without triggering a treaty
commitment that might result in their
cooperation to defend their mutual
interests
all of this is designed to force
america's allies to doubt its commitment
and potentially peel off from each other
in the u.s but exactly how the u.s
should deal with this was unclear
then in 2016 it elected a president who
took things in a dramatically new
direction
we've defended other nations borders
subsidize the armies of other countries
it's going to be
only america first
president trump's view was that many
international agreements were inherently
unfair to the u.s
and that the u.s could get a better deal
by negotiating relationships with each
individual country
so we pulled the us out of several
agreements previously made with allies
and be considered withdrawing from
alliances unless allies spent more on
defense
nato members must finally contribute
their fair share
and meet their financial obligations
trump had a point
in 2016 many allies were still under
their spending goals
he demanded that nato south korea and
japan dramatically increase it or face
consequences
south korea is costing us five billion
dollars a year and they pay
they were paying about 500 million for
five billion dollars worth of protection
and we have to do better than that in
2018
he abruptly canceled military exercises
with south korea
and in 2020 he pulled 12 000 troops out
of germany
all this has caused u.s allies to
further doubt the us's promises
in some cases it's made them move closer
to its adversaries
even the united states closest allies in
asia like japan
have increasingly deepened their tries
with china
so what we're starting to see is a set
of hedging behaviors in case the united
states does not return to the status of
predictable ally
and now these countries are watching an
election that could decide if the us
will continue to pull away from its
alliances
or come back trump's opponent joe biden
was one of the most vocal supporters of
the us alliance system as a senator and
a vice president
working cooperatively with other nations
to share our values and goals doesn't
make america suckers
it makes us more secure and he's running
on a platform that would pull america's
allies closer
who's the first world leader you would
reach out to i would call a meeting of
nato leadership
and i would make clear that we're back
but the limitations of these alliances
are also the reason the us is in this
situation to begin with
[Music]
but how exactly to update this decade's
old system is a daunting question
what's certain is that russia and china
will keep trying to separate america
from its allies
and the next president will have a huge
amount of power over what to do about it
he'll have to answer something that
every american ally is wondering
who does the us want to be in the world
thanks for watching this episode of our
2020 election series
we asked you what you think the
candidates should be talking the most
about
and america's role in the world was one
of the most common requests
marcus asked that we cover the new
relationships with other countries
both close allies friends and partners
as well as rivals and historical
counterparts
jonathan asked about the international
position of the u.s and especially how
to restore the us's relationship with
allies
and tim asked how will the nominees
repair america's relationships with
governments and peoples of key allies
like germany south korea japan and
france we're still working on more
episodes but we still want to hear what
you think the candidates should be
speaking about
so please visit us at vox.com election
videos
and finally we'd like to thank our
sponsor for these videos absolute
who'd like to encourage every american
to make their voices heard and
prioritize voting this election
so whatever you do please drink
responsibly and vote responsibly