Last year, American Compass founder Oren Cass was being interviewed by The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. Cass, a major figure in the New Right, had just finished pointing out that America had not really gotten anything for its post-Cold War NATO spending. Stewart, struggling to answer Cass’ question of what America’s leverage over Europe was for, finally answered “…the leverage is for when we wanna go into Iraq.”
This exchange came to mind over the past week as Europe has grappled with how best to respond to the Iran War. The United States, facing a closed Strait of Hormuz, has asked European allies to send ships, be they warships or minesweepers, to the strait. Europe has rebuffed his demands, agreeing to send more ships but only for the purpose of bolstering existing missions. In particular, one phrase has been repeated by Europeans of various stripes: “Not our war.”
“This is not our war, we have not started it,” crowed German defence Minister Boris Pistorius. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kalla Kajas, echoed a similar refrain, saying, “This is not Europe’s war.” This has enraged Trump, leading the president to muse about changing, or even leaving, NATO.
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