The general who thinks NATO's 2-percent spending rule is a club fee

Countries & Cities · Published 14 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Military leaders often speak in the language of budgets and logistics, but retired General Ben Hodges argues that current defense spending metrics are fundamentally flawed. He believes the way Western allies calculate their military commitments might be undermining the very security they are meant to protect.

After a distinguished career in the United States Army—including commanding the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade during Operation Iraqi Freedom and serving as the commander of United States Army Europe—Ben Hodges transitioned into high-level strategic analysis. At the Center for European Policy Analysis, he currently occupies the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies, where his work examines how the NATO alliance remains structurally sound. Hodges offers a sharp critique of the standard '2-percent' defense spending guideline. He suggests that treating this figure as a simple membership fee is unhelpful and calls for a more sophisticated approach. Specifically, he advocates for a 'win-win' model that includes dual-use infrastructure. This strategy would address critical military mobility issues—the most urgent problem in European security—while simultaneously providing tangible benefits to civilian life. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in early May 1980. In 1995, he acted as an aide-de-camp for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He also held the role of director of operations for Regional Command South in Afghanistan in 2009.

His perspective is rooted in the importance of cohesion. Hodges has expressed concern over the erosion of cooperation with key allies like Great Britain, Germany, and France, noting that the unity of these nations is a primary strategic advantage. His analysis extends to modern conflicts, where he has predicted the comprehensive failure of Russia's armed forces and argued for a heightened priority on the Black Sea region. By moving beyond simple spending totals toward integrated infrastructure and unified cooperation, Hodges seeks to redefine how the West maintains its security posture.

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