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On target: Europe’s military failings

The article in The Economist points out that although it has lasted only three months so far, the war in Libya has brought NATO forces under severe strains, with many countries already running short of munitions. NATO operations in Libya has been very much depending on America, as it was critically pointed out by the outgoing American defence secretary, Robert Gates. This could be explained by the Europeans’ often badly targeted underspending on defence.

The journalist points out that NATO’s military strength is largely determined by how much America is willing to contribute. Although they are the strongest European members, even the British and French military capabilities remain limited. Moreover, the American attitude towards the alliance might change, and – with European countries not willing to invest more – eventually render NATO irrelevant.

To be sure, American administrations have a long tradition of frightening the Europeans by demanding better burden sharing, while appreciating their importance at least as political allies. NATO has outlasted the Soviet Union, and it is now busier than ever. However, a ‘mental change’ can be observed. America’s perspective has not stayed the same after the cold war, and Europe is expected to look after its own security. Nevertheless, the crisis has made European countries cut military spending. Until now, all European NATO members, except Britain, France and Greece, have stayed below the spending target of 2% of their GDPs, with America spending around 5% of its GDP.

Europe needs to have the capability to act, which – as Libya demonstrates – seems not to be the case right now. Even though Europeans cannot be expected to suddenly increase military spending, they should exclude it from future budgetary cuts.  They should also improve their co-ordination: There is a need to increase their efficiency and become more specialised in military equipment production to benefit from economies of scale to a much greater extent. The author concludes that although circumstances are difficult due to diverging national interests, there is no alternative to pooling.