European Partners' Shortcomings Exposed Through Mali

As others have mentioned, the continually-widening spending gap amongst Alliance member states has been condemned as of late by NATO leadership, including Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.  While the Alliance has established (since 2006) a policy requiring all member states to invest 2% or more of their GDP into defense appropriations, only four nations are currently meeting this objective.  In recent years, with over a decade of U.S.-led operations fresh in the collective European memory, the issue has largely been ignored by NATO leadership.  However, with the rise of European-state led campaigns in Libya and now Mali, the issue has risen to the forefront of NATO policy concerns.  

Why is this spending disparity now a rising concern?  The French-led operations in Mali have exposed the incapacity of the French military - as well as partnered European NATO states - to independently conduct combat operations without the support of U.S. warfighting assets.  As the U.S. is increasingly taking a more conservative stance in military operations closer to the European continent, the future of NATO success rests on the ability of European member states to acquire the necessary support assets essential to modern, deployed combat operations.  The spending disparity, along with a shifting U.S. policy stance, may finally highlight the shortcomings of European states dangerous to future combat success and lead to a more equitable North America-Europe power balance in NATO affairs.