Doug Bandow
President Donald Trump wants European governments to spend five percent of GDP on their militaries. However, of those increasing their defense outlays, only Poland comes anywhere close to that much in Europe. Worse, important laggards, such as Italy and Spain, remain. And as the political center collapses across the continent, the issue has become increasingly divisive in important states like France and Germany.
Faced with increasingly urgent cries from Europe’s born-again hawks, the public remains largely unmoved. Explained The Economist: “With politicians bickering about pensions and social spending, and loth to raise taxes, the reality is of a continent unwilling to inconvenience itself for something so trifling as fending off a potential invader. Europeans want more military spending, sure; some churn out ludicrous soundbites about building a ‘war economy.’ But God forbid that anyone make voters endure the cost of it.”
Until Trump’s election in 2016, the Europeans were getting along just fine, including with Washington. The United States did the tough jobs, most importantly, defending the free world from communism and related threats. The Europeans focused on fun, creating bountiful welfare states at home and providing generous foreign aid to assorted Third World governments. Everyone was happy, more or less.
No comments:
Post a Comment