Mick Hume
Defence is the new buzzword in European politics, since U.S. President Donald Trump made clear that America can no longer be expected to act as the West’s world policeman.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the unelected European Commission, is pushing an extraordinary €800 billion plan to “ReArm Europe”, starting with a €150 billion ‘emergency’ loan. She considers rearmament so urgent that the Commission will bypass the elected European Parliament to get the money.
Meanwhile President Emmanuel Macron of France and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer claim to have assembled a “coalition of the willing” of governments prepared to step up and defend Ukraine as the U.S. withdraws its support. (Although few seem willing to commit to doing much more than talk.)
Many questions remain about how these rearmament schemes might work in practice. But take a step back, and there are bigger political and moral questions that are not being asked loudly enough.
For a start: What exactly is it that European leaders want to defend today? What is the supposed coalition of the willing actually willing to fight for?
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