Putin Brought Back Europe’s Military

We all remember the Second World War. It’s hard to forget about it. In fact, we are arguably still in a “post-war period” of sorts. Much of our geopolitics still rests on the agreements that were established after 1945.

In Europe, many saw the need to demilitarize because of its truly horrific history in the 20th century. We couldn’t have significant budgets for militaries anymore; we had to learn to resolve our differences through diplomacy.

Yet, here we are. Putin invaded Ukraine and changed everything.

Europe’s military is back.

Photo by Filip Andrejevic on Unsplash

Because of the real threat Putin poses to the European Union’s much-desired stability, EU deterrence strategies have had to change. Before 24 February 2022, EU deterrence showcased a heavy reliance on three primary factors:

1. economic sanctions,
2. the promise of nuclear disarmament, and
3. an interventionist U.S. foreign policy.

Each of these methods has been put into doubt for good reasons. I will discuss each in turn.

1. Economic Sanctions

The first defense strategy that changed in the EU is its reliance on economic sanctions as a main deterrent. The belief was that economic sanctions were meant to dissuade Putin from…