and what are the europeans going to do about a u.s. president who is undermining their agenda of let's take the issue of. climate change perhaps the biggest long term national security issue that we've world security issue that we face he's the with the u.s. is the one country of the world that's not a member of the paris accord the iran agreement which seems to provide in the eyes of most europeans and many americans the best path to preventing iran from going for a nuclear weapon he's pulled out of that unilaterally and perhaps is looking to have hope war with iran. and that is nato want to be drawn into that missile michaelson put all of those the points to you as you prepare to attend the nato summit in brussels next week how much pressure is a stone and nato members feeling and how is it planning to stand up to donald trump . there is of course.

good reason to believe that peace summit will be very dynamic and the obviously the temperature between leaders of nato allies are considerably higher than perhaps ever before least in recent history. but again if we are not going to book all these issues which were mentioned in the same ball basket then we can really focus on defense matters and haul important these for alliance to stick together in this world and there are numbers challenges going from the east from solve and from cross border issues about. like international terrorism and our issues then i hope that there are good reason even for mr trump to be on the very same day. he's calling from north

america and also from europe but also about the burden sharing yes this is extremely important topic and and this is not only the matter of numbers. there is no political debate about two percent these absolute minimum what we have to spend on our defense but at the same time we understand as a small nation. here on the eastern flank of nato but we need also support of how allies and allies need to hold suited to bump up their capabilities and these why for us two percent for twenty twenty four is quite nature natural. sort of line two or aim to take up mr party if the divisions that we're seeing right now between the u.s. president on the one hand and on the other if they continue like they did during the g seven is that going to play into the hands of the russian president vladimir

putin. it doesn't. because what continues interest in speed vision confusion and oversee lack of political unity within the western club of democracies that do to come back to peter's point he's right that trump is not just transactional he's also i go deep and he's i don't know if he has not being that he doesn't like my team that's not going to station beats w t o e.u. or nato and he's may talk about the domestic political issue in the us which was not the case before that however you are so right that it's unlikely the u.s. is going to get out of it or first of all it's because you know the congress to ratify so i don't think that's a realistic prospect i think with your brain leaders need to be they need to do their homework not just of china but obviously for their own sake and also importantly fos trying to jeep patience because if they heat i didn't bet on

defense spending then we have dress a major come so far every u.s. administration since i received the eighties and the obama administration for example was very vocal about its concern about the lack of spending in iraq and even people to the specific allies like the united kingdom so i think this was an issue that was there before it's not being taken to a new level of tension but it will still be there after china and the europeans need to they're not part of the old sect but also about the future of their relation with any u.s. and mr galbraith other europeans doing their homework are they prepared and you know as we mentioned earlier russia is building up its military capabilities not just in the black se but also in the. eastern flank does that pose an existential threat to nato and is nato prepared to face that threat.

no i don't think it poses an existential threat i don't see the you know the the successor to the red army rolling across the plains of poland and into germany and france i mean that those those days are over. and you know i'm not i'm not even sure that the europe that security will be gamed if europe increases its defense spending i think the issue for the europeans is is whether finally after seventy years they're going to be doing everything that the americans order them to do even when it comes from such an erratic and frankly unfit president as donald trump or whether they are going to have to stick up for their own agenda and what are the elements of their own agenda well certainly includes the european union it includes maintaining international agreements like the paris

accords and the iran agreement you know it and these are things that are vital to european security so it really is a telling moment as to whether europe is going to continue to be a you know take its orders from washington or whether europe is going to actually develop into the kind of political force that it already is economically and mr nicholson what are we looking at now intends. you know nations purpose and its activities if it's not you know it's not the cold war anymore the balkans war is on . so has and so is the war in afghanistan but it is still involved there. sure but the cold war is over as is said in a way perhaps yes it is today a different way what we see how russia is. acting

towards nato or western countries definitely there are a lot of hybrid elements meddling into the elections or trying to destroy a unity among allies. in europe all across atlantic. so we have to stay vigilant and in the main purpose of one alliance needs to defend members of the alliance and also members of the law and should take seriously and build up their commitments to these i'm not sure of at all well today's more safer than it was early ninety's already zeroes in contrary actually as i said there are a number of very serious perhaps somehow even existential threats an existential threat i call it. really prepared to give up nato. and security architecture which has our cities in so many years as though it was

fifty years occupied during the period then nato existed and for our people that support these very high to be members of nato and to see and feel support of allies but also we are not only the consumers of security and defense but also we from ourselves are very seriously investing into it mr post here what do you see as the role of nato in today's world and not just for us but also countries across the world that it's involved in. yeah and to respond to that afaik it's your previous question that i agree it would be terror that they snow a direct immediate security threat posed by russia but to rush out does pose a significant one to go threat to the alliance unity to also our own elections

integrity and this is what clinton can achieve he knows he cannot wean our secy matric will and he knows he can sort out in confusion you know him a crisis and this is why i agree with the premise speaker that it's a it's key to maintain some sense of creation inside myanmar its and inside europe and union. however i think we have to be also clear that nato and that's to answer your question is not fit for purpose to deal with these type of hybrid scenarios how do you have said how do you make it fit for purpose wants to go to. keep more time between them our intelligence and that he has bought any choose to be but not enough and look at the sort of very attack a chemical agent that's acting b e ok there was not a major will be spots about it's called a joint statement and i think after four years of high greetings war that is being waged by russia on different corners of the alliance spot nurse it is kind of mind

blowing that yes to him scrambling to put the facts together are and some i was similar honest answer which clearly put some cyber response which will enable that demonstration of for example. units to come up to the recipient of the of the british forces and i think we have he seems to know that front so what he is giving us the impression he wants to will have to have is stirring up a part of what's in fact is we are getting these two are no apprentice on the he made twenty year already. mr galbraith i now come back to you about guns down because you were the former u.n. envoy to it you know what role did nato play there and what good would you say it did. let me before i answer that question i'd just like to add a point here about these this asymmetric. warfare that or approach that russia has

now taking i think it's important to emphasize that they've succeeded at it they interfere in the american elections it's very likely that the interference made the difference between donald trump who lost the popular vote by three million or more votes and hillary clinton whom they despised becoming president and what has trumped done he has so confusion he's undermined western leadership he's even threatens the existence of nato it's a huge success for russia and frankly the europeans have no response to this now that's what they need one obviously you can expect it from an american administration but in fact is likely in office because of russia ok now turning to afghanistan it's important this was the one time the first time that article five was. in an act that the your european allies participated very significantly in the efforts in afghanistan yes there are

different command structures there different rules of engagement it's far from a perfect process but there was significant cooperation and it would have been something that would have been much more expensive and difficult if the u.s. it has to undertake it alone but let's look at the balkans bosnia and kosovo and in those cases the europeans provided two thirds and three quarters of the forces and of the money so it has been in terms of of some critical security issues it's been a very important institution it has. a continuing role assuming we make it through the next few years and we would have said we will be watching very closely to see what happens at that. nato summit in brussels next week but i'm afraid we have run out of time in this discussion but i want to thank all of our guests peter galbraith in vermont marco mickelson and talent and fabrice sports here and

santander and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website zero dot com and for further discussion to go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter handle is at a.j. inside story from elizabeth for on him and the whole team here bye for now. july on al jazeera. in a new series of head to head maddy has been tackled the big issues with hard hitting questions pakistan is going to the polls to elect a new government what pump will the country take people in power continues to

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the borders are closed and there's nowhere to run tens of thousands of civilian seeks a stint as the draft pensive continues in southern syria. has a seeker this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up rescue crews are taking no chances it could be days possibly even months before the boys found trapped in a flooded cave in thailand will be brought to the surface. malaysia's former prime minister denies he stole millions of dollars in public money and faces decades in prison if convicted of corruption charges plus.

i know moscow england fans back home in iraq after a penalty shootout victory sends their team into the world cup quarter final. blow israel and jordan are refusing to open their borders to help thousands of refugees fleeing a government military offensive in southern syria the u.n. now says as many as three hundred thirty thousand people have been forced from their homes by the fighting to recaptured province the latest round of talks between the opposition and government ally russia have ended without agreement. a jordan is brokering those talks hoping a ceasefire will slow the rate of refugees trying to cross the border in already hosts nearly seven hundred thousand syrian refugees it is also sending food and aid supplies to dead air but despite a plea from the u.n.

jordan says its border will remain closed jordan's army has set up a medical center to treat badly injured syrians heading to the border some are being transferred to government hospitals in jordan as cross live now to burn smith at the jebel crossing on the jordan syria border so bernard first what more can you tell us on the on the plight of refugees there well we know the more than there were yesterday last night just of this spot there are about twenty five thousand as many as one hundred thousand all the way along the jordan syria and syria israel borders the u.n. is going to release an updated figure in the coming hours they say it's going to be more i mean behind me you've got these aid trucks that have been queuing up since midnight the drivers and people delivering they're very angry that they've not been able to get that aid in it's mainly sort of locally donated stuff is mainly from what i can see water bottles of water and pillows and blankets

a sort of very very basics that anybody my need on the other side of the border we know some aid has got across an official sort of u.n. aid has got across but these people trying to get more aid in to the so the syrians we know having creased in number just on the other side of the border house and when these things stand on the on the talks to try to end the fighting the latest round ended with with with nothing any attempts be made at this point to try and restart those talks. well they ended all on tuesday they're going to start again today slightly different today in that the rebel groups of sort of there are now twelve delegate.