Forget ‘Autonomy’: Europe Needs the US as Much as Ever
It’s good that Chancellor Olaf Scholz is finally giving Ukraine tanks. Now let’s admit what it took to get there.
Good at ducking.
Photographer: David Hecker/Getty Images
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was busy this week selling his much-delayed nod for Western deliveries to Ukraine of German-made battle tanks as a case study in prudent leadership. It was certainly a welcome step forward in helping Ukraine defeat the Russian invaders. But the long and fraught negotiations among NATO allies leading up to this breakthrough offer another, more sobering, conclusion for the European Union — and about Germany’s role in it.
It’s that today and for the foreseeable future, just as during the Cold War, Europe remains entirely dependent on the US for its security. The flip side of this reality is that highfalutin’ notions by the likes of French President Emmanuel Macron about European “autonomy” remain pipe dreams, and therefore distractions best discarded in diplomats’ trash cans.