Douglas Barrie
On Germany’s election day, 23 February, the likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, called on Europe to aim for ‘independence’ from the United States. In the defence and security realm, such a clarion call, however, is far easier in the making than in delivery.
Europe collectively remains reliant on Washington for certain key military capabilities, including within the NATO alliance. These span from what are often described as ‘enablers’, a catch-all term for platforms or systems critical for the support of combat capacity, to the nuclear free-fall weapons for NATO Dual Capable Aircraft.
President Donald Trump’s transactional approach to the country’s long-term allies, only weeks into his second term, is providing a stark lesson. The lack of sovereign or sufficient military capability in critical areas among European countries means that they remain dependent on the US to either fill the gaps or to bolster the limited continental capacity. For some European states, the rhetoric and early actions of Trump’s second term seem to be calling into question the US’s reliability as the backstop for the defence of Europe.
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