NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg briefs media after a meeting of the Alliance''s ambassadors over the security situation in the Middle East, in Brussels

Will NATO take a greater role in the Middle East?

US President Donald Trump said he will be asking the alliance to become more involved in the region.

President Donald Trump said the United States does not need the oil in the Middle East.

So what about his country’s role in the region?

Keep reading

A year of living less dangerously? Finland’s first 12 months in NATO

NATO allies must do more as Ukraine runs out of ammunition: Stoltenberg

Nordic tensions on the rise amid Russian anger over NATO accessions

Flag of NATO’s 32nd member, Sweden, raised at alliance’s headquarters

Well, the president is calling on NATO allies to step up their involvement there, which seems to contradict his previous questioning of the alliance’s relevance.

Trump has urged its member countries to increase their military spending, yet criticised NATO as obsolete and split with some of its leaders over his decision to pull the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

Now NATO’s secretary-general says he agrees with Trump that the alliance should contribute more to the stability of the region.

But given the continuing tension between Tehran and Washington, what is NATO able to offer?

Presenter: Julie McDonald

Guests:

Karen Joy Greenberg – Director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University

Fabrice Pothier – Chief strategy officer at Rasmussen Global and a former director of policy planning at NATO

Tallha Abdulrazaq – Researcher at the University of Exeter specialising in Iran, Iraq and Middle Eastern politics