WASHINGTON, March 13. /TASS/. The "militarism on steroids" that has swept Europe is caused by the fear of European elites to lose power and their reluctance to conduct a dialogue on an equal footing with other countries of the world, Almuth Rochowanski, a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute, has said in an article on the Responsible Statecraft portal.
"Lacking in any strategic thinking, a new bellicism has swept up the elites and gone into cataclysmic overdrive in recent weeks," her article reads. "Europe's bellicist frenzy may be induced by fear, but not of Russia actually waging war in Europe's heartland," the expert said, noting that EU fears that Russia might allegedly not stop at defeating Ukraine contradict military reality. European elites seem to fear losing power and status, the position of global dominance they enjoyed vicariously in the shady comfort of the American nuclear umbrella. The prospect of having to deal with other nations as equals, as they will have to in the multipolar order acknowledged by Rubio, horrifies them."
Rochowanski emphasizes that the mindset of European elites, which she characterizes as "militarism on steroids," undermines its democratic institutions and laws, and the new European "security strategy" consists of "a spending spree to reach some arbitrary share of GDP or random number of billions of euros, to buy weapons systems favored by lobbyists but of dubious relevance." The analyst also criticizes European attempts to help resolve the conflict in Ukraine. "The manicsummitry launched by [French President Emmanuel] Macron and [British Prime Minister Keir] Starmer is all sound and fury: it has produced a series of unworkable proposals which, tellingly, are being proposed to the US, not Ukraine, let alone Russia," the article reads.
"If militarism has been bad for the US, leading to protracted wars that bring no greater security, the depletion of American society's well-being, the capture of its politics by arms lobbies and the erosion of its democracy, why would such militarism be good for Europe?" the expert asks.
European stance
On March 5, during his address to fellow citizens, President Macron announced that he would initiate discussions with allies regarding the potential deployment of French nuclear deterrent forces to protect European countries, a move suggested by Friedrich Merz, a candidate for Germany’s chancellorship. In his speech, Macron highlighted allegedly escalating threats facing Europe and France, particularly from Russia. He sought to justify the need for increased defense spending in Paris beyond the previously approved budget. Additionally, he reaffirmed his commitment to supporting Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia.
The day before, on March 4, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, revealed her proposal to EU leaders for a comprehensive rearmament plan with a budget of 800 billion euros. This proposal includes provisions for EU countries to borrow up to 150 billion euros for defense purposes. The European Commission plans to raise these funds in the capital markets and subsequently lend them to member states, contingent on their collective procurement of weapons within Europe. The funds would be allocated for the production of air defense systems within the EU and for supplying weapons to Ukraine. Furthermore, the Commission has suggested that countries increase their current defense spending by 1.5% to generate an additional 650 billion euros for weapons production.