Move over Game of Thrones, NATO is here!

Divided we stand!

This week in London, we all got the answer to the question - what would happen if a bunch of disgruntled family members came together for dinner. It was a recipe for disaster, and we weren't disappointed. Even before NATO's anniversary summit in London, the alliance was on the rocks. Turkey chose to become the rogue son and went ahead with its Syria operation. All the NATO allies could do was stand around and condemn. At the end of the day, NATO was useless. Erdogan got what he wanted, so did Putin - a foothold in West Asia. And then there is the issue of the s-400 missiles that Turkey bought from Russia. A blatant show of contempt to its western allies. But NATO again just stood and watched. A classic example of the family failing to rein in their son, even though they see him hanging out with the bad kids.

Emmanuel Macron, the French president called the alliance 'brain dead' a couple of months back. Macron feels the NATO needs a wake up call, and I couldn't agree more. During the cold war, NATO had a purpose...a mission that everyone agreed on. And the Soviet Union played the best bond villain NATO could have asked for. But who is the common enemy now? Russia? The same Russia from whom Erdogan bought his missiles? Or China? Now China's a complicated subject. The western world realises that China is the future. So they don't really want to poke the dragon too much. But this just makes it one more reason why the NATO is useless. Right now the alliance is going through an identity crisis. In the absence of a common enemy, NATO is struggling to justify its existence. And the current crop of leaders aren't helping either.

Gossiping behind a leader's back. That's what NATO descended to in London. Macron, Trudeau and Johnson were seen indulging in a 'roast trump' session, taking potshots at Trump's impromptu press conferences before departure. Was it fun? Of course it was. Anything that insults Trump is fun to most people. But it reveals a much deeper problem for NATO. The United States is the glue that holds the alliance together. Militarily and financially, the U.S stands way ahead of its fellow allies. And the gossip session shows a complete lack of respect for the current American leadership, and this does not bode well for NATO. And Trump being the guy he is could very well decide to make this a clash of egos. He's already mulling a budget cut, maybe this is the push he needed. Without American money, and American weapons, the NATO is not the powerful alliance it claims to be. And the fallout from the gossip session is already visible.

Trump decided to cut short his trip, and cancel a scheduled press conference. But he's not the kind of guy who leaves without a parting shot. And Trudeau was at the receiving end. Trump called his northern neighbour 'two-faced'. And for anyone who has actually dug deeper into Trudeau's record, that's the perfect description. Under the suave Harvey Dent veneer is a man who is helming a multi-million dollar pipeline project that will harm the environment and the tribal population.

Trump says that he's gotten the non-U.S members to contribute $130 billion more to NATO every year. And that there has been no increase for the U.S, except for respect! Let's ignore the fact that this seems like a line lifted from a gangster movie of the 70s, what does it say? Trump actually seems to be firefighting for the NATO. Clearly the summit was a disaster. Nobody is gonna move past the gossip session, because that's what NATO is about. The alliance is based on friendship, and mutual respect. The moment that goes out the window, NATO becomes a burden for the member nations.

This Christmas, no family is more divided than NATO. Just like a normal family, maybe the NATO too needs a bit of magic. What about an imaginary USSR for a gift?