answer to Europe’s defence problem. The history is not forgotten where the US saved Europe from Nazi aggression in WW2.”
He went on saying, “The European Union has been trying to find ways of balancing its own power in the face of Russian aggression. The US is leading a coalition against ISIS, but it’s unclear how long this will last before they turn their attention back to Ukraine. The US-UK-Australian deal of nuclear submarine was unique strategy to counter China close to its borders. Such strategy may be employed with Europe particularly in the Eastern block as a method to deter Russia.”
Sameh Habeeb argued that though, the US is now occupied in its affairs with China (politically in South China Sea and Taiwan and economically) in their race to control world economy. America’s interest is not keen to project its partners in euros now. With America’s attention elsewhere, the EU is left with only itself to rely on. Immediately, this power disparity becomes clear. Russia has a population of 142 million people compared to 500 million in the EU (CIA World Factbook). The military might of each country also shows how drastically outmatched Europe would be if it went toe-to-toe against Russia.
The EU has a nominal GDP of $18 trillion compared to Russia’s at $US-2373 billion (CIA World Factbook). The military force comparison is even more impressive: the US leads with over ten times as many NATO members and nearly five times the arms budget of Russia (SIPRI). Even taking into account the EU’s internal trade and defense costs, it still has a combined GDP almost three times as much as Russia (SIPRI).
Habeeb suggested that European Union would be ill-equipped to go head to head against an aggressive power like Russia. Its population is small in comparison, and its arms budget doesn’t come close to American levels. Russia has developed its army and equipped it with advanced weapons and has strong missile defence system in addition to advanced naval and air fleets.
There are a lot of unknowns in the EU’s military strategy. It will depend on how long America stays committed to NATO and whether or not it turns its attention back towards Russia. Europe has been able to find an agreement with Russia, but this is unlikely to hold up if Putin decides he wants more territory (Forbes). If Europe is not going to increase its spending on military and increase support for its eastern neighbours; it will remain vulnerable to Russias aggression.
Europe needs a dual-track approach if it’s going to be prepared for whatever Russia throws at them particularly in the eastern block. It must have a strong military force that is able to protect itself while also being proactive in reaching out diplomatically and trying to solve things through negotiation before they get too far out of hand. If