The widespread narrative about the defence of Europe is:
- Europe is defended by NATO.
- NATO is almost entirely dependent on the USA for military capability.
- Europe has been free loading off the USA for decades and has been diverting cash that it should have been spending on defence to social programmes.
- The USA has spotted this apparent free-loading by its closest allies and realises that the US taxpayer has been paying for the defence of Europe and has decided that this must stop.
On the face of it this all sounds reasonable given the current reality facing Europe, but is it plausible? This narrative asks us to accept that the USA is either unworldly or altruistic. Neither explanation appears plausible.
There appears to be some dispute as to whether Henry Kissinger said words to the effect – ‘the USA does not have friends. It only has interests’. In this he was probably echoing Lord Palmerston who said in 1848 in defence of UK foreign policy:
Therefore I say that it is a narrow policy to suppose that this country or that is to be marked out as the eternal ally or the perpetual enemy of England. We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.
The USA has many interests, however as a global super power a succinct summary of its foreign policy over the last century may be – make the world a better place for the US economy. This could be said to drive the ideological and military confrontation that was at the heart of the Cold War and many of its overseas adventures since. In this context a Europe that was united economically is a good thing, however Europe or European nations, that can operate on the world stage without the US security umbrella is a bad thing. The USA actively discouraged the development of European military capability as it was not in its interests. Just as it is now in US interests for Europe to take care of itself whilst the USA diverts attention and resources towards addressing its own strategic error when it forgot that elected political institutions are the precursor to open markets not vice versa and allowed China into the World Trade Organisation.
So what? This adaptation to the narrative does not change the urgent need for the nations of Europe to take responsibility for their own defence. However it may alleviate some of the angst felt about how we got ourselves into this position. Nevertheless it is worthwhile remembering that European defence for the last century or more has been based on US interests rather than altruism.
Thanks for reading Alterius Rei!
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© 2024 Paul Hough
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104
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