Europe Begins to Take Defense Seriously

摘要

Say this for Trump: He's forcing Europeans to think more seriously about how to protect and defend their continent. His disparagement of NATO goes too far, and his focus on getting Europeans to spend more on defense is misplaced. That said, European nations have for too long treated their defense budgets as an extension of social policy. Expenditure on personnel is more than 50 percent of military spending in almost all European Union countries compared with about a quarter in the U.S. Meanwhile, Europe's spending on equipment and research and development is barely 20 percent compared with about 30 percent in the U.S., and only about 22 percent of procurement is collaborative.