Feb 16, 2025 08:30 PM IST
An inward-looking US poses multiple questions to the idea of a united Europe and should prompt the continent’s leaders to forge a more independent path for their security and stability
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for raising an “armed forces of Europe” is an acknowledgment that the continent may no longer be the beneficiary of security guarantees provided by the United States (US) since the end of World War II (WWII), especially against the backdrop of emerging signals that President Donald Trump is intent on cutting a deal with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Zelensky was only reflecting a sentiment that recognises the storm gathering ahead, following comments by US vice president JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference that the old relationship between Europe and the US is “ending” and the region “needs to adjust to that”.
There has been talk of a European army of some sort for decades, and efforts in this direction had been spurred during Trump’s first presidency. It subsequently slowed down as the Joe Biden administration continued a more traditionalist approach towards Europe. Besides the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which triggered the first major war in Europe since WWII, and Trump’s politics of demanding that Nato members bear more security expenses, his recent conversations with Putin and his promise of ending the war without giving Kyiv a central role in the negotiations, as well as Vance’s attacks on what are seen as long-standing European values reflect the churn and geopolitical flux in Europe, which is experiencing major changes for the first time since the Cold War’s end. The rise of Right-wing nationalism fuelled by migration — a consequence of interventions by the US and Europe in West Asia and Africa — and Russia’s intent to assert itself on its borders are changing power equations. X owner and US department of government efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk’s appeals to the European Right-wing, too, have upset many governments.
An inward-looking US poses multiple questions to the idea of a united Europe and should prompt the continent’s leaders to forge a more independent path for their security and stability.
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