Originally Posted by ThumbsUp

NATO as a combined military is not equal to the sum of its parts. The European contribution to the military arm of NATO as a capable force is very low, but that’s not really even the point.

The point is really that this was not a signal of strength. Even with a stronger Europe, it’s likely that with the world view of the US as a waning power, this would have happened anyway.

The only thing stopping the stability-instability paradox has been the threat of the firm hand of the US.