The threat was always there but Western side of the continent tricked itself into this narration that normal relations with Russia can be established. While countries who were trapped in Warsaw Pact/Eastern Bloc for nearly a half of the previous century knew already that you can never trust Russians.
Some of Central-Eastern politicians were warning the rest of the continent but they were ridiculed, portrayed as populists or blinded Russian-haters, and "only" full-scale invasion of Ukraine was needed so Western countries would finally understand that imperialistic aspirations of Moscow never went dormant.
Agreed. This is a rational response to the USA's protective umbrella being discarded, and the end of NATO. Europe became far too complacent, and the change is going to be quite uncomfortable at the very least.
Again, this is a very rational response and I applaud the German government for being realistic.
Just that threat of weakness from the US side is the end of traditional NATO.
US forces were what kept us together militarily. We MUST find the new path quickly.
I post this with a tears dropping from my eyes, genuinely.
No matter who is reelected in the USA in the future, the US-led post-war rules based order is over. Something new must take its place. It best be Democracy. We took it for granted all this time. This could its last chance.
Here is some interesting reading:
> The West’s Last Chance
> How to Build a New Global Order Before It’s Too Late
I don't want to be dismissive or trite, but good luck to any official who thinks the defence needs of (say) Portugal, align with the defence needs of (say) Poland. Could say the same along the N-S axis as on the E-W axis.
The premise of NATO, which is something over 10 years old IIRC, is that if/when tanks start rolling across (say) Poland, (say) Portugal would be wise to take notice. And maybe proactively do a bit more than just notice.
