Although Europe has begun to make up for years of neglect in terms of defence spending, it remains woefully ill-equipped to win over other countries through the power of attraction and persuasion. Each side in the European culture war is uniquely unappealing to billions of people around the world.
The new European security order should be based on Ukraine’s security, not Russia’s. This will require Ukraine to join NATO and the EU.
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has underlined the importance of European sovereignty. The EU should now invest boldly in its military capabilities, cyber-defences, energy independence, and economic resilience.
The EU should immediately impose a temporary embargo on Russian energy imports. If the union waits any longer, it will be too late – and the political costs will be huge.
As a paranoid dictator, Vladimir Putin has survived by eliminating anyone who could pose a threat to him. But now that he has triggered the survival instinct of Europe and the broader West, the world is entering a dangerous new phase of existential conflict.
Zelensky and his people are fighting for their lives to defend European values. They have earned the prospect of EU membership once this brutal war is over.
The measure of Germany’s credibility is not only in polite compliance with the geopolitical course set by the US. It also lies in actively shaping this course and leading the EU in a responsible manner.
Across Europe, national attitudes toward the Russian threat against Ukraine reflect a broad array of concerns and historical experiences. Yet underlying Europeans’ differences are key shared interests that they are increasingly willing to defend.
Until we stop dithering and commit to all European states being independent and free, Russia will have the upper hand
In the coming decades, the question of who sets the global rules, standards, and norms guiding technology, trade, and economic development will be paramount. Having lost their exclusive prerogative in this domain, some Western governments have begun to rethink the universality of the rules-based order.