This debate may soon heat up again, now that the US, no less than Europe, is faced with grave budgetary problems. Indeed, in a time of austerity, US politicians might find it difficult to understand Europe’s willingness to cut defense budgets that already total far less than NATO’s official 2%-of-GDP target.
估计上述争吵很快又会死灰复燃，尤其是当前美国预算问题的严重程度比欧洲有过之而无不及的时候。事实上，在这个一个预算紧缩时代，美国政治家可能很难理解欧洲人为何还要削减国防支出，尤其是在费用水平早已远低于GDP2%的北约标准之时。