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Europe

Coverage of NATO dynamics, Russia-Europe tensions, transatlantic relations, and European Union policy and security architecture.

Europe's hypersonic startups cannot close the missile gap with Russia and China—but they still matter

Europe's hypersonic startups cannot close the missile gap with Russia and China—but they still matter

A German startup just flew a vehicle at Mach 6. Russia and China have deployed operational hypersonic arsenals. Europe's attempt to close a generational missile gap with venture capital and fragmented procurement faces brutal constraints of physics, finance, and time.

NATO's counter-drone systems cannot keep pace with commercial drone warfare

NATO's counter-drone systems cannot keep pace with commercial drone warfare

Ukraine produces 10 million drones annually while NATO's procurement processes measure progress in years. The alliance's institutional architecture, designed for major weapons platforms, cannot adapt to threats that iterate in weeks. Without organizational reform, the gap will widen.

Why NATO's air defences cannot stop cheap drones—and what it would take to change that

Why NATO's air defences cannot stop cheap drones—and what it would take to change that

The alliance spent decades building systems to defeat expensive missiles. Now it faces swarms of $50,000 drones that exploit every assumption baked into Cold War-era doctrine. The arithmetic of exhaustion favours the attacker.

What breaks first when US allies must self-defend: NATO's eastern flank, Taiwan, or the Gulf?

What breaks first when US allies must self-defend: NATO's eastern flank, Taiwan, or the Gulf?

Three allied theaters share a common vulnerability: industrial dependence on American production that no ally has seriously attempted to replicate. When stockpiles determine survival, the question becomes who runs out first.

Trump's NATO ultimatum: Will Europe rearm, fragment, or go nuclear?

Trump's NATO ultimatum: Will Europe rearm, fragment, or go nuclear?

American pressure has pushed European defense spending to record highs. But rising budgets mask deeper fractures over strategy, capability, and nuclear deterrence that could reshape transatlantic security for decades.

The Arctic is breaking in three places at once—and no one can stop it

The Arctic is breaking in three places at once—and no one can stop it

NATO allies clash over Greenland's future while Russian pipelines sink into thawing permafrost and Chinese shipping routes prove more fragile than promised. The Arctic's transformation is outpacing every institution meant to govern it.

Will Trump's security doctrine push Japan, South Korea, and Poland toward nuclear weapons?

Will Trump's security doctrine push Japan, South Korea, and Poland toward nuclear weapons?

The Pentagon's 2025 strategy tells allies to handle their own defense. For three countries living under nuclear-armed adversaries, this creates a calculation that diplomatic frameworks may be too slow to constrain.

Britain leaves the Gulf: Which US allies will follow?

Britain leaves the Gulf: Which US allies will follow?

After 46 years of continuous Royal Navy presence, Britain's last warship has departed Bahrain—just as Iran escalates. The withdrawal reveals which American allies treat security commitments as optional expenses and which see them as existential necessities.

Trump's Greenland push forces Europe to confront what it cannot afford

Trump's Greenland push forces Europe to confront what it cannot afford

The American president's territorial ambitions have become an accidental stress test for European strategic autonomy. The results expose a €1.8 trillion investment gap, fiscal rules that prevent defense spending, and political systems unable to sustain the commitments that independence requires.

Why NATO cannot stop Russian attacks on undersea cables it sees coming

Why NATO cannot stop Russian attacks on undersea cables it sees coming

The alliance's surveillance network tracks every suspicious vessel in the Baltic. Its legal framework, ownership structures, and decision-making architecture ensure that watching is all it can do. Russia has learned to exploit the gap.

The Ice That Binds: Trump's Greenland Gambit and the Fractures in American Arctic Strategy

The Ice That Binds: Trump's Greenland Gambit and the Fractures in American Arctic Strategy

Trump's demand for Greenland ownership does not create contradictions in US Arctic strategy—it exposes structural fractures that have long empowered patient adversaries. The real question is whether Washington can align its planning horizons with melting realities.

The Precision Paradox: Why NATO Keeps Buying Weapons Russia Has Learned to Defeat

The Precision Paradox: Why NATO Keeps Buying Weapons Russia Has Learned to Defeat

GPS-guided munitions have failed catastrophically against Russian jamming in Ukraine. Yet Western militaries continue building doctrine around these vulnerable systems. The explanation lies not in ignorance but in institutional structures that profit from fragility.