Europe fears it can’t catch up in great power competition

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equivalent to around $580 billion, into a decadelong rearmament program.

‘A rearmed Germany combined with the toughened up militaries of Poland, Scandinavian and Baltic states, and the extra layer of defense offered by nuclear-armed Britain and France, could create a coalition to check Russian expansionism, says Nico Lange, a former chief of staff at the German Defense Ministry.

Yet obstacles to wholesale change abound.

Defense ministries won't easily surrender control over plans and procurement, nor will Europe’s big industrial players easily pivot from competition to collaboration.

The need for consensus, which defines the 27-member EU, often leaves it flatfooted in response to unreliable actors and fast-changing circumstances although the EU surprised many with its swift and resilient response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I think we are in the most difficult and dangerous situation since the end of the Second World War,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at a Copenhagen summit last month.

Events over the past few months have hammered those anxieties home.

In July, the EU had to swallow a lopsided trade deal with the U.S. that allowed Washington to impose 15% tariffs without blowback.