2018年至2019年间，美国人对北约的支持大幅下降，因为这个有着70年历史的联盟一直在努力应对内部纠纷、俄罗斯的威胁、技术进步和顽强的恐怖组织。
皮尤研究中心(Pew Research Center)的调查还发现，包括北约其他国家居民在内的大多数受访者仍对本国遵守北约第五条犹豫不决。第五条是协议的基石，该条款规定，如果一个成员国遭到攻击，所有国家都将提供联合军事支持。
去年5月至8月，该报告对来自19个国家的总共21029人进行了调查，结果发现公民们仍然普遍支持跨大西洋联盟。来自大多数成员国的被调查者中，略多于四分之一，即27%的人对该协议持反对意见。
尽管特朗普总统攻击北约，但美国对北约的支持在2017年激增。从2018年到2019年，支持率下降了大约12%，回到了历史最高水平。
副总统乔·拜登的前国家安全顾问朱丽安·史密斯告诉记者新闻周刊“鉴于总统在过去三年的大部分时间里对北约联盟的评价，美国对该集团的支持已经下降，这不应该令人震惊。”。
70年来，北约在美国享有两党支持，但特朗普的总统任期暴露了该组织内部的分歧。史密斯说:“我担心，在特朗普的第二个任期内，我们可能会看到美国外交政策的这些核心原则受到更多损害。”。
特朗普受到了批评对联盟不屑一顾，称协议已经过时。史密斯说，他对其他国家未能实现自己的军费开支目标的担忧，得到了“左翼和右翼”相当多美国人的认同。
她补充道:“特朗普至少让美国人对美国参与世界事务的效用和价值产生了一些怀疑，并把这一切都打上了类固醇。”。“你在调查中看到的是沙子正在移动。”
第5条的设计
第五条是“北约创始条约的核心”联盟说。但是皮尤报告显示，平均50%的北约受访者不支持他们的国家履行承诺。38%的人认为他们的国家应该。
60%的受访者仍然认为美国会保护联盟成员免受俄罗斯的攻击。
美国前驻北约大使亚历山大·弗什博告诉记者新闻周刊这份报告的这一部分是“令人振奋的”，显示了美国在联盟中的持续领导地位，不管他称之为“精神分裂的”通快集团。
这张档案照片显示的是2019年12月4日在英国伦敦东北部沃特福德格罗夫酒店举行的北约峰会上的北约政府首脑。
SUPPORT FOR NATO FALLING AMONG AMERICANS, NEW SURVEY SHOWS
Americans' support for NATO declined dramatically between 2018 and 2019 as the 70-year-old alliance grappled with internal disputes, a resurgent Russian threat, technological advances, and resilient terrorist organizations.
The survey from the Pew Research Center also found that a majority of the respondents, which included residents of NATO other countries, remained hesitant about their nations adhering to NATO Article 5, the cornerstone of the accord which provides for the joint military support from all nations if a member state is attacked.
In surveying a total of 21,029 people from 19 nations between May and August last year the report found citizens remain generally supportive of the transatlantic alliance. Little more than a quarter of those surveyed, or 27 percent, from a majority of member states held an unfavorable opinion of the accord.
Despite President Trump's attacks on the alliance American support for NATO surged in 2017. From 2018 to 2019, approval dropped roughly 12 percent, returning to historical levels of support.
Julianne Smith, a former national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, told Newsweek, "It shouldn't be shocking, given what the president has said about the NATO alliance for the better part of the last three years," that American support for the bloc has dropped.
NATO has enjoyed bipartisan support in the U.S. for 70 years, but Trump's presidency has exposed rifts within the organization. "I worry that in a second Trump term, maybe we would see some additional damage to these core tenets that U.S. foreign policy," said Smith.
Trump was criticized for being dismissive of the alliance, describing the accord as obsolete. His concerns about other nations' failure to meet their own military spending targets are shared by a significant number of Americans "on the left and the right," Smith said.
"Trump has taken at least some American doubts about the utility and value of American engagement in the world and put that all on steroids," she added. "What you're seeing in the survey is that the sands are shifting."
The Designs of Article 5
Article 5 is "at the very heart of NATO's founding treaty," the alliance says. But the Pew report shows that a median of 50 percent of NATO respondents do not support their nation honoring the commitment . Thirty-eight percent said their country should.
Sixty percent of all those surveyed still believed that the U.S. would protect alliance members against Russian attack.
Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Alexander Vershbow told Newsweek that this element of the report was "heartening" and showed continued U.S. leadership in the alliance, irrespective of what he called a "schizophrenic" Trumpian approach to the bloc.
This file photo shows the NATO heads of government at the NATO summit at the Grove hotel in Watford, northeast of London, U.K. on December 4, 2019.
