Europe Should Adapt to a More Distant Patron

In the past few years, Europe has taken several steps to fulfill its stated ambition to play a “geopolitical” role. Most European North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members have increased the share of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on defence, with twenty-three of them set to reach the 2 percent target agreed upon by the alliance ten years ago. The European Union (EU) has provided Ukraine with hundreds of billions worth of aid, including military transfers, in the attempt to thwart Russia’s war of conquest. It has also given Kyiv a prospect of accession to the bloc. Assistance to Ukraine has gone hand in hand with far-reaching sanctions on Russia and an abrupt shift away from Russian energy supplies. Amidst growing tensions between the United States and China, and with global value chains at greater risk of disruption, the EU has developed geoeconomic tools to reduce its vulnerability to the political use of investment and economic ties. [...]