singapore nato top military officer general petr pavel denounce u.s. presidential candidate donald trump friday criticize alliance obsolete say comment play hand opponents unusual criticism presidential candidate pavel chairman nato military committee say interview russian president vladimir putin others may please approach take approach would great mistake say trump presumptive republican nominee nov. u.s. presidential election criticize decades-old nato alliance mainly european nations cornerstone u.s. foreign policy obsolete costly unite state north atlantic treaty organization set different era trump say main threat west soviet union ill-suited fight terrorism pavel former czech republic army chief say nato alliance form 1949 perfect great potential well chance improve statements like necessarily damage useful pavel say singapore sideline shangri-la dialogue asia big security summit thursday democratic presidential frontrunner hillary clinton also lambast trump foreign policy platform dangerously incoherent trump emergence strong presidential candidate talk point shangri-la dialogue carl thayer australian security expert say prospect trump office would deal realistically australia experience show damn well work u.s. president tell news conference meet pavel discuss regional issue include rival claim south china sea rise tension northeast asia north korea step test nuclear capabilities china unite state trade accusations militarize south china sea claim almost entirely beijing brunei malaysia philippines taiwan vietnam claim part water trade worth trillions dollars ship every year freedom navigation region south china sea crucial development region difficult imagine without freedom stability peace region pavel say nato could act issue use military mean mainly political mean add north korea conduct fourth nuclear test january follow satellite launch test various missiles great concern nato pavel say western sanction successful deter pyongyang develop nuclear capabilities country may change equation china pavel say point fact 90 percent north korea trade big neighbor pavel also say hop upcoming nato summit warsaw would agree cyber operational domain war along air sea land space nato 's top soldier say trump comment play hand putin