On the eve of a major Nato defence ministers’ summit in Brussels, malaise and uncertainty hung over the 29-member alliance.

Donald Trump is demanding members of Nato take up more tasks and burdens of the alliance, even as his own supporters lose enthusiasm and Washington increasingly takes up a go-it-alone strategy in key conflicts.

Germany and France are losing faith, while Poland, the Baltic states and others on the front lines against Russia are clinging to Nato, according to a survey released this week.

Turkey, which boasts the alliance’s second largest land force, remains the member state most unhappy with it, even as the US sticks up for the country in its confrontation against Russian-backed forces in Syria.

The Nato defence chiefs are coming together in Brussels this week for the first time since a tense meeting in London late last year, which descended into a secondary school comedy after several leaders were taped mocking president Donald Trump, who stormed out of the gathering.

Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump styles his 'You're fired!' pose in his Trump Tower office in June 2012. At the time he was known as a reality TV star on The Apprentice Diane Bondareff/Invision/AP Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves He was also well known as the patron of the Miss Universe competition Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Early signs of Trump's ambition for the presidency can be found everywhere. Not least in his 2011 book 'Time to get tough: Making America #1 again' Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump with Piers Morgan in November 2010. Piers Morgan has long held that he and Trump are good friends Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump appeared on Fox & Friends, his favourite show, in August 2011 Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump considered running in the 2012 election, where he would have faced Barack Obama. He is speaking here at an event for a Republican women's group Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump was subject to a Comedy Central roast in 2011. He is pictured here being roasted by rapper Snoop Dogg Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Given that this Trump store is in the lobby of Trump Tower, it can be said that Trump sells merchandise of himself out of his own home Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump held meetings with prominent Republicans when considering his 2012 bid. He is pictured here with Alaska governor Sarah Palin Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves He didn't end up running in 2012 afterall, instead endorsing Republican candidate Mitt Romney AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump's golf course in Aberdeen proved controversial in 2012 when he began lobbying the Scottish government against wind power in order that they wouldn't install turbines off the shore by his new course Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves He even gave evidence to a Scottish parliamentary committee discouraging wind energy AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves He still found time for a round of course AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves On 16 June 2015, Trump announced that he would run for the presidency of the United States in the 2016 election as a Republican Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves His campaign was divisive, courting controversy wherever he went. Ultimately he was declared the Republican candidate in June 2016 Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump took part in the TV debate against opponent Hillary Clinton on 9 October Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump and wife Melania vote in the presidential election on 8 November 2016 AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Hillary Clinton conceded defeat at 2:50am on 9 November and president-elect Trump swiftly delivered his victory speech to a crowd of supporters Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves News coverage around the world focused on the huge political upset that Trump's victory spelled AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump met with president Obama to discusss transition planning on 10 November. AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Donald Trump and Nigel Farage pose in the golden elevator at Trump Tower on 12 November 2016. Farage was the first British politician to meet with Trump after the election LeaveEUOffical/Twitter Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves The inauguration of Donald Trump took place on 20 January 2017. Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer boasted that the crowd was the 'largest ever' to witness an inauguration, a claim that was proved not to be true Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves In his first 100 days as leader, Trump signed 24 executve orders, the most of any president AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves One of Trump's most memorable election pledges was to build a wall between the US and Mexico. He is standing here in front of a prototype for a section of the wall Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump's meetings with other world leaders have provided no short supply of photo opportunities Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump was welcomed to the UK by the Queen and a state banquet was held at Buckingham Palace in his honour Reuters Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Not everyone welcomed the president. Mass protests were held in London throughout his visits in both 2018 and 2019 EPA Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves One of the most significant meetings Trump has held with another leader was with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. In June 2019, Trump became the first sitting president to set foot in North Korea Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves 2020 will see president Trump fight for a second term in office, who knows what the next decade will bring? Getty

Mr Trump’s hostility towards the alliance and his demands that members contribute more resources notwithstanding, the alliance, which weathered the Cold War and its aftermath, appears to be fraying, attacked from within by doubters like French president Emmanuel Macron, and from outside by Russian-backed propaganda and influence operations.

Support for Nato in France and Germany is down double digits over the past dozen years.

Nevertheless, according to the survey by Pew Research Centre (a think tank based in Washington DC), an average of 53 per cent of 16 member countries surveyed had a favourable view of Nato, with only about a quarter expressing negative views.

In the US, less than half of Mr Trump’s own Republican Party supporters view Nato positively, while three out of five of self-described Democrats have a favourable view of the alliance.

A total of 21,000 people were interviewed in the survey, which was conducted late spring and summer of 2019.

Most supportive were citizens of eastern European countries like Poland, which joined Nato in 1999 and fears Russian president Vladimir Putin’s designs.

After the killing of Soleimani, Nato members are reluctant to support what the US is doing in the Middle East Simone Tholens, Cardiff University

Least supportive is Turkey, where only 21 per cent view Nato positively. Turkey has increasingly found itself on the wrong side of Nato partners in Syria and Libya as it expands its influence across the Mediterranean in moves that have alarmed alliance members Greece and Cyprus.

“Dealing with the Turkey problem now will be by far the most pressing issue,” said Simone Tholens, director of the Centre for Conflict, Security and Societies at Cardiff University.

The public in Sweden and Ukraine, non-Nato members which cooperate with the alliance, largely support it, again likely out of fear of Russian scheming.

Mandarins of western foreign policy are struggling to hold together an alliance they see as crucial for confronting a resurgent Russia and China. In a press briefing on Tuesday, the US envoy to Nato, Kay Bailey Hutchison, a rare member of the pragmatist Republican Party old guard within Mr Trump’s populist orbit, acknowledged frustrations with the alliance and urged leaders to publicly extol Nato’s benefits.

“Some of our leaders have criticised Nato in different ways,” she said, in response to a question by The Independent, urging officials in member states to emphasise that “the world is not a safe place, and we cannot take security for granted”.

Despite the dismal level of support for Nato in Turkey, she strongly supported Ankara in its ongoing confrontation with Russian-backed Syrian regime forces in Idlib province, calling the killing of more than a dozen Turkish soldiers at the hands of Bashar al-Assad’s forces “unthinkable”.

“We have come out strongly against that Syrian, Russian-backed activity,” she said.

Despite attempts to craft a positive image for Nato, a little more than half of those polled said their country should not defend an ally in case they were attacked by Russia, one of the key tenets of the alliance.

Ms Hutchison reiterated Mr Trump’s demands that member states contribute more for their own defence, also urging countries to get more involved in helping train up forces in Iraq.

Experts say that’s unlikely. Nato already operates a small mission in Iraq, which was highly contentious and polarising in the first place, and has been largely suspended following the US assassination of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani​ in Baghdad earlier this year.

“After the killing of Soleimani, Nato members are reluctant to support what the US is doing in the Middle East,” said Ms Tholens. “The US didn’t confer with any of its allies before going ahead with this operation.”

The world is not a safe place, and we cannot take security for granted Kay Bailey, US envoy to Nato

Ms Hutchison, emphasising the need to expand Nato’s cyberdefence and information war capabilities, said that “every one of our countries has had cyber and hybrid attacks from Russia, some from China”.

The Trump administration has proposed an additional $724m (£558m) in its 2021 budget to counter Russian operations, including propaganda and disinformation campaigns. But on the eve of the Nato summit, Moscow said it was unmoved by attempts to counter it.

“No sanctions, no programmes aimed at containing Russia, at limiting our influence, undermining our authority in the world, would work regardless of the amount of funding, regardless of the techniques that the US resorts to,” Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti news agency on Tuesday.

Ultimately, Russia’s conduct may be the one issue that strengthens Nato.