Europe Begins Planning for Defense Without the United States

European governments have begun to plan seriously for a defense that does not assume American support. RBC, citing Foreign Affairs, reported survey findings that only about 11 percent of respondents across 15 European countries still view the United States as an ally, with a majority doubting Washington would come to Europe's aid in a conflict.

The shift is occurring even as the two sides publicly display unity. Euronews reported that the United States marked its 250th anniversary in Brussels with an invitation-only event drawing nearly 10,000 guests, including North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General Mark Rutte, alongside local protests over the weekend-long closure of a public park.

The gap between the ceremony and the polling reflects the current situation. Officials still talk about transatlantic solidarity, while European publics and planners increasingly assume they will have to provide for their own security as Washington shifts attention and forces elsewhere.

That assumption has economic consequences. Higher European defense spending, new procurement and an effort to build industrial capacity reorder budgets and supply chains, and they raise questions about how a continent long reliant on the American security guarantee will finance its own.