BLUF: The State of European Security
For decades Europe has endeavored to develop its own vision of “strategic autonomy,” an attempt to realize Europe’s role as a nascent independent security and political power on the global stage. Realizing this vision has been a tricky task, a fact which was on full display at this week’s Munich Security Conference.
The conference, which comes on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, delivered some uncomfortable (and maybe overdue) conversations which have sent the world of Transatlantic security swirling. Between Vice President Vance's speech and an American-Russian rapprochement in Saudi Arabia, European leaders have quickly found themselves looking in from the outside.
Calling snap meetings on Monday and Wednesday, French President Macron assembled trusted European counterparts in an effort to organize an effective response to the sudden crisis. However, despite the show of unity, the task at hand remains fraught in the face of a more assertive America, a belligerent Russia, and an internally fractious Europe.
As this week's summit showed, finding actionable consensus has proven tricky, if not downright impossible. Even amongst a coalition of the willing and three years of brutal Russian aggression in Ukraine, the continent still hasn't found answers to lingering questions around its security and its place in the global order.
With Germany’s pivotal federal election set for Sunday, European leaders simply cannot afford to waste time playing political whack-a-mole while attempting to address the significant capability gaps that remain within the bloc’s security architecture. The time for talk has clearly passed, and Europe will need to find its voice and its footing fast or risk being firmly left behind in the multipolar pecking order.
