BUT OF COURSE: Germany rejects US pressure for Nato spending rise.

Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said it was “quite unrealistic” to believe Germany would spend 2% of its economic output on the military.

Other spending such as development aid, he said, should be taken into account.

However, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg echoed US calls for member states to pay an equal proportion.
“Diplomacy, development aid, economic co-operation can be important to help stabilise a region,” Mr Stoltenberg told a news conference after Nato talks in Brussels.

“We have international targets, guidelines, for development aid, 0.7% of GDP [gross domestic product], and then we have a Nato agreement on moving towards 2%. But those are two different things… It is not either development or security, it is development and security.”

Soft power is the kind word. Hard power is the gun. Even Al Capone knew you need both.