Mousse The collapse of the Warsaw Pact weakened NATO. Really? Yet it gained all these new Allies afterwards who had been Warsaw pact countries, and who are now against Russia. The only thing that would weaken NATO is the collapse of Russia. Whilst Putin is empire building and sabre rattling, then NATO serves its purpose.
The US funded NATO for its own strategic ends. Why should the US fund Europe's defence - because it is in the U.S interest to do so. Moot point with the pivot to the Pacific. Those of you under 40 might not remember the Cold War, but I was born into, grew up with it, and spent much of the early part of my marriage waving dh off to sea to fight it. It was in US interests then; less so now perhaps. I think the threat of MAD still hangs around and keeps the US on side. The Cold War never really stopped imo. Easier perhaps to pay for NATO as an insurance, rather than have to spend blood and treasure again rescuing it from its own folly as in WWII.
Trump is weakening NATO by being as you say 'undiplomatic' he will push allies away. NATO has been a strong and solid ally but other alliances are being built with countries that don't have a bully in charge. The only way Trump would push Allies away is if he shut the US wallet, and withdrew US troops from the RAP etc. That isn't going to happen. Trump has a very valid point that has been made for decades about the lack of defence investment etc by some Allies (Germany is one of the worst offenders here, as is Belgium. Perhaps they think having NATO HQ in Brussels and SHAPE in Mons is their contribution!).
I think the issue with a consensus about anything is that it then becomes the orthodoxy and it cannot be questioned. We need to question how we fund the Welfare state and what it is for. We need to look at what the NHS does, is there another model that could work better? Look what has happened with the so called consensus on EU membership..it's been questioned, torn apart, and those who don't like that are fighting tooth and nail to overturn the referendum result by keeping us shackled to the EU.
I'd like to see businesses paying a living wage so that government isn't propping up their wages bill with tax credits. Isn't that another form of state aid that is supposedly banned by the EU?
Politically, I grew up in the 70s, and so have always been a Tory, since watching Red Robbo rant on his soap box at British Leyland. I used to wonder who ran the country when one saw the union leaders disappear into No 10 for beer and sandwiches with Harold Wilson on the News.
I think there is far too much of what Juncker does at play in politics:
'When it becomes serious, you have to lie.'
'I'm ready to be insulted as being insufficiently democratic, but I want to be serious ... I am for secret, dark debates'
On the UK wanting a referendum on the Lisbon treaty: ' Of course there will be transfers of sovereignty. But would I be intelligent to draw the attention of public opinion to this fact?'
On French referendum over EU constitution:
“If it's a Yes, we will say 'on we go', and if it's a No we will say 'we continue’,”
On the introduction of the euro:
"We decide on something, leave it lying around, and wait and see what happens. If no one kicks up a fuss, because most people don't understand what has been decided, we continue step by step until there is no turning back."
On eurozone economic policy and democracy:
“We all know what to do, we just don't know how to get re-elected after we've done it”
The Liberal consensus isn't honest if you look at the quotes above. I'd far rather politicians treated us like adults and stopped having secret dark debates. The Swiss model seems instructive and is direct democracy; but I think the UK might not be able to make it work. I think that politicians that are conviction politicians are a rare breed now, apart from exceptions like Frank Field, and that many forget just whose votes put their arses on a nice well paid padded Westminster bench.
I also think the disconnect between the governed and the governing is the widest I have seen it in my lifetime. If that's where a liberal consensus leads us, then it needs to change.