The Clouds of War again darken Europe's Mood

Gassed...John Sargent. Public Domain

America has been described as many things, including an Island of Blissful Ignorance about the existence of the rest of the world. Sitting an ocean away from that island, I am surrounded by headlines considering the specter of Donald Trump’s possible re-election to the White House. European leaders fear that Europe is at its most dangerous crossroads in decades.

Most Americans don’t see much of the headlines in European media. And it’s no wonder American war memories are short. Of the 16 million Americans who served in WWII, only 119,000 now survive. And 113 of those pass away daily. For your consideration, I would like to share some recent statements of import.

Olaf Scholz, Germany’s chancellor, recently called for Europe to adopt a “war economy.”

Denmark’s defense minister, Troels Poulsen, recently declared Russia might test NATO’s core pledge to defend one another “within the next three years”, based on new intelligence.

Poland is buying large numbers of howitzers, helicopters, tanks, and HIMARS rockets, like a housewife ordering from Amazon. Spain, Germany the Netherlands, and Romania recently bulk purchased a thousand Patriot missiles to get a discount.

Ten years ago, only three NATO countries met the “supposed minimum requirement” of spending 2% of their GDP on defense. Now 18 countries, 2/3 of all members, meet that mark. Total defense spending has increased to $380 billion, virtually the same as Russia.

The fear in Europe is, in part, driven by statements like those of Jens Stoltenberg the secretary general of NATO: “The European Union cannot defend Europe, eighty percent of NATO’s defense expenditures come from non-E.U. NATO allies.”

But the debate continues.“We should stop moaning and whining and nagging about Trump,” says Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, “That’s up to the Americans …We have to work with whoever is on the dance floor.”

Considering the recent MAGA Republican refusal to support Ukraine and NATO itself, it’s worth remembering, the anti-war movement of 1940, (believe it or not) called the America First Committee. Its members included future presidents John F. Kennedy and Gerald R. Ford, a future Supreme Court justice, Walt Disney, Frank Lloyd Wright, poet E.E. Cummings, and the committee's spokesman, Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh.

Americans remembered the horrors of the First World War when the trenches stretched from the North Sea all the way down to the Swiss Alps, covering a distance of about 475 miles.

Even then President Roosevelt couldn’t challenge the anti-war movement until Japan made a strategic mistake in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Europe is holding its breath watching America’s election year, but it’s also preparing for the worst. As Clarence Darrow once said: “History repeats itself; that’s one of the things wrong with history.” The clock is ticking. Europeans are watching the time and wondering if America will answer the alarm.