The Need for European Defence

Why European Defence Still Depends on America

Don't Believe the Hype - the War in Ukraine Has Led to Little Change

By Max Bergmann and Sophia Besch

Foreign Affairs. March 7, 2023

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/why-european-defense-still-depends-america

[Starting section]

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 should have shaken European security. But until now, Europe has not gotten their act together for defence.

The European nations have been focusing on advancing their armed forces rather than on their defence (building forces for humanitarian, counterinsurgency, and counterterrorism missions).

[Worse than feared]

The European states are advancing their armed forces but they lack ammunition stockpiles. They lack artilleries and have heavily deplete their forces while supporting Ukraine.

Furthermore, European forces all use different equipment and weapons. Which makes it harder for forces to operate together, and unable to supply each other for deficits.

Europe is dependent on the U.S. since they know that Washington will fill in these gaps.

[Peeking under the hood]

The European defence is fundamentally seeking an American responsibility. The EU has been reliant on NATO concerning military matters, including defence.

[Where is the ambition?]

The EU has spent too much of their arsenals for Ukraine during the war. The European Union should help the European countries to rearm with sufficient amount of arsenals, weapons, and tanks. Then the European countries would not need to request more backups from the third-country suppliers. But it might take a long time for the EU restock their weaponries and armaments.

[Europe needs its own weapons]

Rather than expecting the US to constantly provide support, European countries must prepare weapons and arsenals for themselves. And rather than spending their resources for other countries, they should refill their own resources first.

When this is achieved, the European countries will no longer have to rely on the US for their assistance.

Summary Opinion:

I believe that Europe should focus more on their defence rather than to improve their military forces. This stemmed from an over reliance on NATO and the US to coordinate the defence of the EU. Europe should stop believing that the U.S. is their problem solver, and start filling these gaps on their own.

The European states must gather together and work on their defence and also unify the weapons and equipments they use. They must stop waiting for help from the United States. Since the U.S. cannot back them up forever.