Avoiding War With the Army You Want

As the European Union has evolved over the past 20 years into a more cohesive social, economic, and political entity, one area of integration has lagged behind the others: defense. This is due to the extensive overlap in membership between the European Union and NATO, and to the reluctance of European governments to spend large sums on their militaries. In this week’s episode of Horns of a Dilemma, a former Polish defense minister, foreign minister, and speaker of the Polish parliament who is currently serving as a member of the European Parliament argues that Europe should develop its own military force. Radoslaw Sikorski  makes the case that a European army, independent of NATO, would be valuable in responding to and deterring Russian aggression, as well as dealing with other distinctly European challenges–such as migration–that do not directly implicate American security interests. This event was recorded at an event sponsored by the Polish Club at the University of Texas, Austin, and co-sponsored in part by the Clements Center for National Security.

Image:7th Army Training Command from Grafenwoehr, Germany, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

War on the Rocks