Publication

In the wake of the escalation of the security situation in Ukraine, this essay looks at how Europeans' view of the US' role in NATO has changed over time. To do this, the author asks two questions: 1) Is independent military power still essential for a country to fulfill its national role in the twenty-first century? and 2) How do France, Germany, Italy and Spain perceive the role of US Armed Forces within NATO? He suggests that the direction of public opinion within these four NATO member states has moved aggressively away from NATO’s foundational principle of collective defense and also away from the importance of national military independence. Instead, he argues, people in these European countries expect to outsource Europe’s defense to the United States.