European defense policy is in disarray, as the continent edges toward likely escalation with a nuclear-armed Russia. Calls for Ukraine to use North Atlantic Treaty-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia juxtapose with proposals from President Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz that climate policies are the solution to Europe’s problems. Meanwhile, European trade with Russia continues via Kazakhstan. Urgently needed is clarity.
The imperative of a Ukrainian victory is clear — whether or not Kyiv’s success might deter Communist China. An emboldened Russia threatens Europe beyond its eastern flank. This has been true since the war began. So it has been curious to observe much of Europe hesitate to provide Kyiv with the tactical support needed to defeat Moscow. France has contributed 2.7 billion euros in military aid.
This compares to Poland’s 8.4 billion and Denmark’s 4.7 billion euros, though Poland’s gross domestic product is one-fourth of France’s and Denmark’s about 15 percent. Yet the French president is now calling for Ukraine to be able to strike military targets within Russia and French troops to forward deploy to Ukraine. NATO’s secretary general and leaders from Sweden, Denmark, and Lithuania make similar calls…