For decades, Europe’s security rested on three intertwined pillars: diplomacy, economic interdependence, and the stabilizing presence of the United States through NATO. That structure is now under visible strain. The war in Ukraine grinds on without resolution, alliances feel more conditional, and confidence in automatic American backing has weakened. Within EU institutions, the language has shifted. Officials speak less in abstractions and more in timelines, transport corridors, stockpiles, and response windows. The question has narrowed: not whether Europe should prepare, but whether it can do so in time. Continue reading…