Europe is building a military industrial base to rival America
After decades of relying on American protection, European nations are consolidating their factories to produce high-tech drones and cyber defenses independently for the first time.
For over seventy years, the security of Western Europe was anchored by a massive American presence that peaked at 400,000 troops during the Cold War. This arrangement essentially subsidized the European way of life, allowing nations to fund robust social programs while the United States handled the expensive logistics of heavy defense. Today, that dynamic is reversing as European capitals shift from historical pacifism toward industrial self-reliance. Germany, for example, recently broke a decades-long taboo rooted in the guilt of the 1940s by establishing a 100-billion-euro fund to modernize its aging military hardware.