Seeking to smooth the choppy waters of Franco-American relations, the Biden administration may wittingly or unwittingly stumble into another crisis, one with very dangerous implications.

Make no mistake, throwing U.S. support behind EU defense initiatives would undermine NATO collective defense, speed up a process of transatlantic decoupling, and alienate many of our allies in eastern and central Europe, most of whom are dubious of EU defense.

Countries facing an existential threat on their eastern border are naturally wary of any moves that would sever ties with the U.S. and weaken NATO, leaving them beholden to a phantom EU Army when Putin comes knocking.

Under both Democrat and Republican presidents, the U.S. has made the argument that Europe needs to do more in terms of defense capabilities. This, however, must be done via the NATO umbrella rather than under the supranational purview of the EU bureaucracy in Brussels.