On April 11, 2026, Maksym Chebotarov, Coordinator of the U.S.–Ukraine Partnership Program at the Transatlantic Dialogue Center (TDC), spoke to La Tercera, a daily newspaper published in Santiago, Chile, about growing tensions within NATO following disagreements between the United States and its allies over the conflict with Iran.
In the article, La Tercera describes the war with Iran as a major stress test for transatlantic unity after U.S. allies refused President Donald Trump’s request for assistance in unblocking the Strait of Hormuz. The piece also highlights Trump’s escalating criticism of the Alliance, including renewed threats of a U.S. withdrawal from NATO and statements questioning the credibility of Article 5.
Chebotarov stressed that a near-term U.S. withdrawal from NATO is not a realistic or probable scenario. He noted that the United States benefits from its presence in allied countries through airfields, command-and-control structures, joint maritime patrols, joint manufacturing cycles, standardized equipment, and a shared perception of threats.
At the same time, he underlined that NATO has “lost some margin of error and credibility” from the perspective of U.S. leadership, but that allies still have a window of opportunity for a “second chance.” In his assessment, the current debate over burden-sharing is increasingly becoming a practical dilemma shaped by differing threat perceptions and diverging assessments of strategic priorities.
Chebotarov also warned that adversaries do not need NATO to collapse; they only need to believe the Alliance will hesitate and become politically paralyzed instead of responding to immediate defense and deterrence needs.
Den vollständigen Beitrag finden Sie über den Link.