Europe without Defence

The debate at Madariaga Foundation in Brussels today was about the “American Disengagement” from Europe’s defence.  It attracted a large crowd. Obviously, there is a clientele for defence issues in Brussels, among the active and retired bureaucrats of the different institutions, universities and think tanks, embassies, and the other usual suspects.

It was interesting to notice that this type of crowd tend to forget the citizens, the street’s opinions. There was no reference, for instance, to the fact that the military establishments in all the European countries have lost a critical war: the people’s support. The public opinion is no longer with them, does not understand the role of the armed forces in today’s Europe. This has led to serious budgetary cuts all over the Continent. In some big countries, such as Italy and Spain, the resource allocation to defence is today 0.84% and 0.65% of GDP respectively, instead of at least 2%.