Europe Must Build Strategic Autonomy

European governments should treat U.S. unreliability as a realistic baseline and invest in a long-term program of defense, institutions, and political projects to avoid being forced into crises by Washington’s swings. This is not merely buying more equipment but creating durable decision-making bodies, funding lines, and public narratives that sustain independent action over decades. — Framing European strategic autonomy as a slow, institutional project changes the debate from episodic political reactions to long-term capacity building with material consequences for NATO, Ukraine, and transatlantic ties.