The present World Order was established after WW2 with the Marshall Plan. The United States wanted a secure and free Europe. To make sure that the Communists did not spread into the weakened economic and social fabric of Europe. The US poured in resources to shore up Europe. The US did not want European countries to have a strong militaries in case they flipped over to Communism, taking their militaries over to the other side. The US wanted a degree of control in Europe. Encouraging a policy of no one country having a capable independent military (such as France has) but to require joint participation for an effective fighting force. This would keep any country in Europe (or Canada) from making policy that they could enforce by themselves. Move forward to today, to where we are now– the US wants Europe to buy more American weapons and help to subsidize the US war machine, NOT start building up military factories in Europe to make a stronger Europe.
Europe (EU) led by Germany and France is looking at building up their capacity to defend themselves without the US. To make policies that will strengthen Europe militarily and economically.
Germany became the biggest military spender in Western Europe, which was due to the €100 billion special defense fund announced in 2022.
France has always been wary of the US and its control of Europe and buys very little military hardware from the US. France is the only country in the EU that can deliver nuclear capabilities ( some 300 warheads) without any help from the US. France has nuclear subs with ICBM nukes that are built in France. Also, France has nuclear-armed air-launched cruise missile manufactured by MBDA in France.
Britain is a nuclear power ( about 250 warheads) and has nuclear-powered submarines with Trident ICBM (American) missiles on board to launch their nukes. The problem with this is those missiles need servicing done by Uncle Sam along with the launch equipment.
The US has some 100 plus nukes (B61 bombs) in Europe, that can be dropped by trusted allies, such as the UK and Germany but are under the control of the US. The F35 stealth fighter can carry a nuclear weapon, in this case the B61-12 thermonuclear gravity bomb capable of a high or low yield setting but they are just dumb bombs that you have to drop on target.
European Defense Fund: the proposed $870 billion ReArm Europe package—now renamed Readiness 2030,
Getting things done FAST is why the EU has arrange for special financing –European Defence Fund pledges €25m for next-generation rotorcraft engine research. Things that used to take years are now happening within months. Even Canada is wanting to participate, now that it is looking more to Europe for alliances and reliable trading partners.
There may even be a push for a new nuclear deal. After all, if the US is so unreliable in such matters, any 1st world country can likely get a handful of nukes together in a few years. I happen to know Japan has a stockpile of enriched material sitting in France if they ever need any and Canada could help out with tritium to get things going faster. The days of only a few nations having nukes may well be over. After all if Pakistan has them and Israel has them and even North Korea has them, why not admit Saudi Arabia has them (they bought nuke capable SRBM’s from Russia and they are the ones who financed the Pakistan nuclear program, the list is long. Why not accept or even encourage a few responsible EU countries to step up and arm themselves with a few dozen nukes, if the US is walking away?
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