Poland’s PM Labels Under-Spending NATO Countries “Free Riders”

NATO’s target is for its 29 member countries to spend 2% of GDP on defense. Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, says that Western European countries such as France and Germany are paying less than 2 percent and are free riders. Nine countries, including Poland, the UK and the US are meeting or exceeding their goals.

a. Explain the free-rider problem described in this news clip.

b. Does the free-rider problem in international defense mean that the world has too little defense against aggression?

c. How do nations try to overcome the free-rider problem among nations?.