Amerika braucht eine Allianzprüfung

Christopher Chivvis argues the United States needs a comprehensive “alliance audit” rather than a nostalgic restoration of its Cold War system. Writing amid renewed turbulence under Donald Trump, he contends Washington should judge allies by whether they bolster competitiveness against China and avoid dragging America into unnecessary wars.

Chivvis calls for trimming or recalibrating riskier commitments, notably with the Philippines and potentially South Korea, given rising escalation dangers and North Korea’s nuclear reach. By contrast, he sees alliances with Japan and Australia as strategically sound, offering technological, economic, and military advantages in the Indo-Pacific. In Europe, he advocates a rebalanced transatlantic partnership in which NATO shifts toward greater European responsibility while preserving US backing.

Ultimately, he proposes new bureaucratic mechanisms and congressional oversight to systematically assess the costs, risks, and returns of each alliance, aligning commitments with contemporary power realities and domestic political support.