Europe blown up NATO – Europe shown itself to be a cowardly and unreliable partner

At 03:00 European time last night, President Donald Trump delivered a speech to the American people about the progress the military is making in the operation in Iran. It is important to note that the United States has entered into a very intensive partnership with Israel, a democracy in the Middle East that, according to the U.S. government, shares the same norms and values as the United States. In addition, both countries are important strategic partners. Europe has shown itself, on all fronts in the war in the Middle East that began on October 7, 2023, to be a cowardly and unreliable partner of both Israel and the U.S.

Europe has blown up NATO and Europe has shown itself to be a coewardly and unreliable partner.

The United States is also the most important NATO partner within this military alliance with 30 European countries and Canada. The U.S. has approximately 100 military bases in Europe to protect our continent. At any given time, more than 50,000 American troops are stationed on European soil. Most troops are based in Germany (about 35,000), Italy (about 12,000), the United Kingdom (about 10,000), and Spain (about 4,000). Notably, aside from Germany, these countries do not grant the U.S. permission to use their airspace for military operations in the Middle East. The main military powers of Europe are the UK and France, both led—like Spain—by left-wing leaders who have a strong personal aversion to President Donald Trump.

NATO

In recent decades, Europeans—due to an illusion known as the “peace dividend”—have reduced their defense spending to such a low percentage of gross national product (GNP) that they are no longer capable of defending themselves. This was not considered necessary: people benefited from what Americans call “a free lunch,” essentially free-riding on U.S. defense spending and being protected by American soldiers. As a result, Americans themselves can spend less money on education, healthcare, and social services. Europeans, on average, work less and retire earlier. Our tax spending goes mainly to social welfare, not defense—while defense should be the primary task of any government: protecting the country and its citizens.

After more than three decades, Americans have grown tired of European behavior. Trump is not the first president to point this out, but he is the first to attach consequences to it, starting with his first presidency nine years ago. Back then, Europe escaped without consequences; now it will not.

The new Secretary General of NATO, former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, has so far succeeded in persuading the NATO countries of Europe to structurally increase defense spending in order to not be put down as an unreliable partner. The problem, however, is that increasing from 1% to 2% of GNP does little when defense must be rebuilt from the ground up. Europe’s defense industry has become small and outdated, there is a shortage of personnel, and orders often have long delivery times. At the same time, for four years Europe has had to send large amounts of its own and ordered equipment to Ukraine, which is fighting a war of survival against aggressor Russia.

Since last year, the newest NATO agreements state that not 2%, but 3.5% of GNP should go to direct defense spending, and total spending should amount to 5%, including infrastructure. European bridges, for example, are often no longer designed to support the weight of tanks.

Within Europe, only Finland, the Baltic states, Poland, and Greece actually meet the agreed NATO percentages. These countries border Russia or Turkey and have historically invested more in defense due to hostilities from those nations. Of these, only Poland is a larger

country capable of building a substantial army, something it has been actively working on.

Europe was thus effectively protected for free by their American partner for years. In return, Europeans only provided limited assistance in the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq, mainly to avoid damaging relations with the U.S. In hindsight, these wars can be seen as pointless and as having caused major refugee flows toward Europe, disrupting our societies. These wars took place under both Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic President Barack Obama.

At the time, Europe could have chosen to assist only in tracking down terrorists, without long-term occupation of these countries. However, the European contribution was not large enough for the U.S. to gain significant benefit. Aside from the British, most European countries participated only marginally.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. was attacked by terrorists, and under NATO agreements, allies must help each other when requested.

At the beginning of the war in Ukraine—a conflict arising from tensions between the West and President Putin, who sought to restore the old Russian sphere of influence—Europe initially failed to respond. Under President Biden, the U.S. quickly supplied large amounts of weapons, and the UK under Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson also offered rapid support. Chancellor Merkel and President Macron initially did little and mainly waited to see whether the U.S. and UK would resolve the situation again. Ukraine borders Europe and the EU; it is our backyard and directly affects our interests. Only after more than a year did Europe begin to provide real support, mainly from Northern Europe, especially material from the UK, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands. President Macron speaks a lot but delivers little concrete support in terms of weapons and money.

On October 7, 2023, the democracy of Israel was attacked by Iran and its proxies, such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and other terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq. Israel—a very small country with about 8 million Jews and 2 million Muslims and Christians, and with strong historical and cultural ties to Europe—was largely left to fend for itself. Europe quickly called on Israel not to escalate, while there was little attention for the more than one thousand murdered Israelis and over two hundred abducted civilians. President Biden also provided Israel only limited support.

Then President Trump returned to power. Under Trump, Israel received full support, including weapons and military assistance to deal with Iran and its proxies. Europe remained on the sidelines and mainly offered criticism. The aversion to Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump in Europe is so strong that it sometimes seems as if there is more sympathy for their opponents than for democratically elected leaders.

Together with Israel, the U.S. has nearly dismantled the Iranian regime. At the same time, Arab countries support this approach, strengthening their relationship with Israel more than ever. The U.S. has re-established itself as the dominant global power, while the influence of BRICS countries such as China and Russia has significantly declined. The U.S. has also expanded its influence in Panama and Venezuela. Global oil supply and trade have largely come under American control, causing China and Russia to lose key partners and Europe to lose relevance.

The U.S. is once again leading in almost every area. This is beneficial for the free world—but only if that free world supports the U.S. This is where things go wrong. Although Europe was not informed in advance by Trump about the attack on Iran, it could have seen it coming and offered support. Iran poses a greater direct threat to Europe than to the U.S.

Instead, European countries condemned the military action, and many refuse U.S. aircraft access to their airspace or the use of bases. Not actively helping is one thing, but actively obstructing is viewed very negatively. European countries appear to be hardening their stance.

Both Defense Secretary Hegseth and Secretary of State Rubio have indicated that NATO is meant for mutual support, and that this is currently lacking. The U.S. will not forget this, even under future presidents. European leaders, particularly in countries with large Muslim populations, are portrayed as weak administrators who succumb to internal pressure from the far left and radical Islam. According to this view, that is why leaders such as Starmer, Sánchez, Macron, and recently also Meloni do not want to support the U.S.

At the same time, Europe has closed around 35 nuclear power plants due to climate and energy policies and has largely stopped its own gas and oil production. The war with Russia has already had a heavy impact on energy and industry, but the situation around Iran poses an even greater risk. The Strait of Hormuz, through which currently no oil and gas are flowing, is crucial for Europe.

Europe is thus harming itself on multiple fronts: defense, energy, and international cooperation. According to this analysis, Europe has effectively undermined NATO and will pay a high price in terms of prosperity and security.

Image credits: Marek Studzinski via Unsplash