Europe Lacks Enough Military Strength to Solve Zelensky’s Problems

After Friday’s absurd effort to publicly force President Trump into a position he already rejected, President Zelensky went to Europe to be adored by European leaders.The problem for Mr. Zelensky is that Europe simply does not have the military forces to solve his problems. Europe’s unwillingness to invest in its own defense has a long history. President Eisenhower complained about it six decades ago in 1959. This continued underinvestment has steadily weakened the European militaries compared to other countries.To take just one example, India has 2,418 T-72M1 tanks, 156 VT-72B tanks, and some bridgelayer vehicles.By contrast, the British military is estimated to only have 150 tanks capable of going into battle. They would be supported by about 12 long range artillery guns. Despite President Macron’s aggressive posturing, France has only 90 long range artillery guns. That’s enough for one to two months of combat in Ukraine.Germany, the country which twice threatened to overrun all of Europe, is now so weak militarily that the head of the Bundeswehr, General Alfons Mais, wrote “In my 41st year of service in peace, I would not have thought I would have had to experience another war. And the Bundeswehr, the army that I am allowed to lead, is more or less broke. The options we can offer policymakers to support the alliance are extremely limited.”The simple reality is that America spends 70 percent of the NATO defense budget. All the other nations combined spend about 30 percent.Over the course of two or three decades, this difference in resources has a compounding effect. America can invest year after year in better equipment, more complex systems, and a lot more realistic training. There are synergistic effects between the quality and quantity of equipment and the scale and intensity of training programs.A clear example of the difference in assets is the 630-plus F-35 lightning fighter jets in the American system and the 34 in the British system. When a country has more than an 18:1 advantage in the most advanced fighter in the world, the imbalance of capabilities is obvious. Even Israel has more F-35s than Great Britain.On every count, the United States could help Ukraine — and the Europeans bring almost nothing to the table.This difference in the scale of military investment is reflected by the defense industrial base. America has an enormous industrial base for defense technologies. It is strengthened by the degree to which foreign military sales strengthen the profitability and scale of the American production system. Since Russia occupied Crimea in 2014, European defense spending has gone up by 20 percent. Russia’s spending has grown by 300 percent and Communist China by an astounding 600 percent. This difference in defense spending indicates how far out of the competition Europe is at the present time. It can’t defend itself. It certainly could not project power into Ukraine.Mr. Zelensky went to the Oval Office and infuriated the president of the one country whose help is vital to Ukraine’s survival. Then he flew to London to meet with European leaders who could ultimately do nothing of substance to help him.The European leaders held press conferences, issued firm sounding statements, and announced another meeting. Big whoop.It was all noise and show. The European leaders do not have enough military strength to matter. They are good cheerleaders. They can provide some economic aid. They can visit Kyiv for good theater and nice publicity.Yet in the hard world of fighting and effective military power, their cupboard is bare. Two generations of failure to do their duty maintaining hard power cannot be overcome in a few weeks or months of panicked meetings.It will take years — maybe decades — for Europe to rebuild its military capabilities. It would also take political will and consolidated support among the European people to sustain it. None of that will occur in time to truly help Zelenskyy or Ukraine.Mr. Zelensky’s only solution is in the Oval Office of the White House with the American president.Anything else is a fantasy.Mr. Zelensky must ask himself if saving his country is worth a public apology. It is the only path to success.

Europe Lacks Enough Military Strength to Solve Zelensky’s Problems

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