Former U.S. President Donald Trump set off alarm bells in Europe when he told a campaign rally in February that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell” it wants to any countries he judged to be delinquent on their defense obligations. European countries were already fretting about the possibility of a second Trump term, and these latest remarks sent these concerns into high orbit. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times a few days later that Europe was facing a world that has gotten “rougher” and that “we have to spend more, we have to spend better, [and] we have to spend European.”
But the question remains: Will Europe do enough to be able to defend itself? Complaints that European states are overly dependent on U.S. protection and unwilling to maintain adequate defense capabilities have a long history, and the wake-up call provided by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has yet to produce a dramatic increase in Europe’s usable military power. Yes,
