Through New York Summit 2020 -- this year transformed into a series of virtual sessions -- Danske Bank sheds light on the crucial future of American politics and geopolitics in the wake of the US presidential election as well as the state of global business and the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Key takeaways from Mattis

• The bottom line is that if we did not have NATO right now, we would design it and build it. NATO has always had internal disagreements; its strength is that we have always worked our way through them.
• NATO has changed from a purely defensive organisation to a security organisation, so it is not quite as unified at times on some political issues, but that is normal in a democracy. NATO is not only essential today, it is probably more essential now than at any time since the Berlin Wall came down. I am a strong believer in NATO and so are the majority of the American people.
• I am going to give you three words that guide my thinking and the thinking of many people in the US, and that is allies, allies and allies. As Condoleezza Rice used to teach us young generals when she was Secretary of State; remember that we do things with our allies and not to our allies.
• The idea of 2% of GDP committed to the defence of our democracies is not exorbitant. At the height of the Cold War we were spending up to 30% and during World War 2 the American people put half their national taxes into defence. What we want to do is prevent that sort of situation, and that means we all have to commit. I think 2% is absolutely right.
• We will not be able to keep the American people paying significantly more for defence than Europe. As I said when I went to NATO the first time as Secretary of Defense for Donald Trump; You cannot ask me to go back and ask American parents to care more about your children’s freedom than you care. You have to pay at least the 2% you all pledged to pay at the 2014 Wales Summit of NATO.