Europe Will Have To Take Care Of Its Security

And the sooner, the better.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a guidance document for Pentagon employees, according to which the US Army will refocus on deterring China's attempt to seize Taiwan and strengthening the defense of its own territory.

According to The Washington Post, Hegseth's memo describes President Donald Trump's vision: preparing for a potential war with Beijing and protecting the US from threats in the “near abroad” — including Greenland and the Panama Canal.

According to the document, the Pentagon will put pressure on allies in Europe, the Middle East and East Asia to increase defense spending and take a major role in deterring threats from Russia, North Korea and Iran, the newspaper notes.

That the US will focus on the Indo-Pacific region was quite expected. Moreover, China has been identified as a major threat to the U.S. under both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration. Trump himself in his first term demanded that NATO countries increase defense spending — at least to the normative level of 2% of GDP provided for the alliance countries.

European leaders were unwilling to listen to Washington. And now they have no choice: the United States will no longer guard Europe as it did before. European politicians are probably tempted to take a wait-and-see attitude and reassure themselves that Trump is not forever. But this can turn into another big mistake. Europeans will have to take care of their own security — and the sooner, the better.

Leonid Nevzlin, Facebook

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