The NATO alliance secured almost a century of peace on the European continent, with the exception of smaller conflicts and minor wars, until Russia invaded Ukraine in Feb. 2022. This was one of the longest stretches of continuous peace in recorded European history. Yet American isolationist instincts are resurfacing, just as they did before World War II, especially among Donald Trump’s camp.

This situation has led some world leaders to ask a frightening question: If Donald Trump wins the election and then pulls the U.S. out of NATO (or otherwise refuses to defend NATO allies)–with the Russians still mobilizing for total war–what will happen to the smaller countries of Europe?

Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan tries to tackle that question. He warns Americans not to give up on the most powerful alliance in human history and predicts dire consequences if Americans choose to go down that road.

Below is an excerpt from Peter’s Feb. 20 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:

During a rally last week, former President Donald Trump stated that European allies that do not contribute enough to NATO (in his eyes) would not receive support if Russia were to attack them. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, we need to consider the repercussions of the US stepping away from the NATO alliance.

Trump can smell the populist/nationalist sentiment in the air and he’s going all in. While he might be on the extreme end of it right now, there’s ever-growing momentum in America taking us down that path. We’ve enjoyed decades of a largely peaceful Europe, but what happens if the Americans leave?

I would expect the Europeans to revert to their old ways, including renewed military competition and something even scarier for us Americans, nuclear proliferation. We all know how quickly places like Germany can ramp up military production.

Trump’s statements may seem wild and disconnected at the moment, but there’s more than just an election on the line here; all it would take is one country’s knee-jerk reaction to send us back to a not-so-peaceful Europe.