If former U.S. president Donald Trump was a wake-up call for Europeans that they need to take more responsibility for security and defense, Europe lost too much time in the past four years discussing abstract notions of strategic autonomy while making only piecemeal progress toward becoming a more capable security actor.
1 With the new administration of U.S. President Joe Biden recommitting the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the challenge facing Europe could be the very opposite: how to avoid relapsing into complacency and lazy transatlanticism.
Instead, Europe must capitalize on Biden’s election to finally deliver on becoming a stronger security player in its own right and, in so doing, a stronger partner to Washington. That starts with the Europeans assuming greater responsibility for their Eastern and Southern neighborhoods and contributing more to addressing hybrid and cyber threats. The specter of a possible return of an America First U.S. foreign policy in 2025 or 2029 means that there is no time to waste.