Could Europe Defend Itself Without America - And How Would It Work?

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This is a conversation with Edward Arnold, a Research Fellow at RUSI and one of the clearest voices on European defense today. For decades, Europe’s security has relied on the assumption that the United States would always be there to lead, to help, and to fight if needed. But that assumption is quickly eroding and regardless of who sits in the White House, it’s becoming clear that Europe will have to rely more on itself.

In this conversation, I wanted to explore what that actually means in practice. I asked Ed three big questions: First, what’s broken in Europe’s current defense architecture that prevents it from standing on its own? Second, what would a credible, self-reliant European defense actually look like? And third, what kinds of reforms and political will would be needed to get there and whether we are on the right path.

I personally really enjoy these kinds of "wargaming" episodes where we explore a hypothetical situation based on the facts at hand to better understand the situation we are in. And this is a grounded, realistic and (hopefully) really insightful discussion and analysis of one of the most important questions for Europe’s future. I hope you’ll find it as interesting as I did.