Why US may regret pushing allies towards greater defence autonomy

The need for the United States to start offloading some of its global responsibilities did not begin with Donald Trump.More than a decade ago, when working as a journalist and graduate student, I heard from political scientists and other observers of US foreign relations that allies would, at some point, need to rely less on Washington and start boosting their own defence budgets; this was particularly true of America’s European and East Asian allies, facing US adversaries in Russia and China.Trump was, however, the first major post-Cold War presidential candidate to reject key planks of the US’ unipolar moment – campaigning on a promise that more of the country’s bilateral dealings would serve American interests directly, and accusing partners of taking advantage of US support.