Stop Free Riding Off Of America, Europe!
It’s time for Europe to start pulling its weight. For decades, Europeans have let the US spend money on European protection. They’ve done this while simultaneously criticizing American policy in complex, difficult situations. With the rise of China, America cannot do everything on its own. It is time for Europe to start pulling its weight.
In peace time, it is easy to forget that the liberal world order is an exception, not a rule. The idea that the world can be generally at peace and liberal democracies having a dominant role is something that has not happened for almost all human history. In fact, the last 30 years, with the US as the world’s sole superpower have been the only time this has really been the case. Even in the peacetime of Imperial Britain, liberal democracies were not the norm.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rise of authoritarian China has somewhat woken up Europe to this fact. European nations are finally realizing how important and beneficial American power is. Not only do they now appreciate it more, they are finally slowly starting to contribute more. But even with this realization, the US is providing the overwhelming military backup to Ukraine. American military aid dwarfs all of Europe’s aid combined.
With the rise of China, and a possible invasion of Taiwan in the coming decade, it is clear that the US cannot do everything alone. The US must stay militarily equipped for that eventuality. It cannot perpetually put all of its materiel into the European theater. European nations thus must start contributing to the Ukrainian effort much more. Some more than others. Nations like Poland and Ukraine have been contributing. Nations like Germany and most in continental Europe have not.
Citizens of European nations must remember that their peaceful, prosperous life is not ordained. It is a product of liberal democracy being in a privileged position, as a result of American Hegemony. It is easy to criticize mistakes another nation makes in complex situations, while benefitting from their efforts and not having to make strategically and morally difficult decisions.
Citizens of European nations must also realize that to maintain the peaceful prosperous world they live in, they must also help the US much more. The coming years could be the most critical of the 21st century in the battle between authoritarian nations and liberal democratic nations for dominance. The US must focus more on the Pacific. America can still help in Europe, but European nations must take responsibility for the area, otherwise the world that they have taken for granted might not be there at all.