Is Europe Finally Ready for an Army?

Caption: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (OHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

 

 

After the Paris attacks, Europe’s calls for a combined military could finally happen.

Europe is secretly plotting to create a European army, some British newspapers have been proclaiming over the last week. “Britain Will Be Forced to Join an EU ARMY Unless We Leave, Says Armed Forces Minister” read a headline on the Express. Meanwhile, other news outlets have been quick to discredit the idea. “[I]s there a serious, imminent chance of this happening?” asked The Guardian. It answered its question in just one word: “No.”

It’s easy to see why they are so dismissive. Leaders of the European Union have been talking about forming a European army for over half a century, and it’s still not here.

But none of these articles examine why the subject of an EU army has come up again. A look behind the headlines reveals why Europe might actually make some real progress toward a combined military this time.

The Terrorist Attacks That United Europe

Europe is forsaking a longtime ally as it prepares for all-out war.

The November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris caused a tremendous rift between America and the European Union. For the first time ever, a European nation—France—called on the European Union’s collective defense clause instead of turning to the American-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (nato) for help. This represents a stunning rejection of American leadership.

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The nation that benefits the most from France rejecting America is Germany. Germany has dominated the EU for years. France’s move will bring the European armies together in a way that the EU founders only dreamed of.

By invoking the EU’s collective defense clause rather than nato, French President François Hollande was declaring that Europe is more than just a junior partner in America’s defense arrangement. Europe is its own power. It has its own foreign relations, its own interests, and its own goals.

Most people didn’t recognize the significance of France’s decision to call on the EU instead of nato. But it is a choice that will have a massive negative impact on America—as well as Britain and the Jewish state of Israel. It will significantly alter the history of these nations, and of Europe.