The Real Price of NATO: 75 Years of Collective Security (and the Trillion-Dollar Bill)

Описание: April 4, 1949. Twelve nations sign a treaty built on one sentence: an attack on one is an attack on all.
Seventy-five years later, that promise has evolved into one of the largest financial commitments in modern history—measured not just in budgets, but in opportunity costs, debt, infrastructure, and long-term dependency.

In this forensic deep dive, we follow the money behind NATO—from the post-WWII economic wreckage and the Marshall Plan era to the “peace dividend” that never fully arrived, and the expansion waves that quietly rewired Europe’s defense and spending priorities.

In this video, we cover:

The 1949 Deal: Why the U.S. chose a permanent security umbrella—and what it cost

Burden Sharing vs. Reality: How spending gaps shaped growth, politics, and resentment

The “Peace Dividend” Trap: Why downsizing never truly happened

Expansion Economics: Integration costs, standardization, and the price of a longer frontier

The 2% Rule Era: What happens when dozens of countries buy the same weapons at once

Defense Inflation: Why “more money” can buy less capability

Infrastructure for War: Bridges, rail, borders—what it takes to move armies fast

Vendor Lock-In: How long-term procurement can create strategic dependency

Debt & Interest: The bill that doesn’t show up in the headline number

The Bottom Line: Security as an economic endurance test

Timestamps
0:00 — The Treaty That Changed the West
1:24 — The Post-War Economic Reality
3:55 — The Original Burden-Sharing Problem
6:42 — “Guns vs. Butter” (Opportunity Cost)
9:10 — The Peace Dividend That Got Spent
11:58 — NATO Expansion: The Integration Bill
15:05 — The 2% Guideline & Rearmament Shift
18:22 — Defense Procurement Inflation (Why Prices Spike)
21:30 — Military Mobility: Roads, Rail, Bridges
24:40 — Vendor Lock-In & Lifetime Costs
27:55 — Debt Service: The Hidden Multiplier
31:10 — Final Verdict: What Collective Security Really Costs

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