Away from public scrutiny, France is pushing Europe into prioritising increased arms spending over political alliancesFor three years now, the European Union, created to promote peace and understanding, has been undergoing a profound pivot to militarisation and hard power. Europeans are served up a relentless narrative about their continent“s duty to stand up to external challenges: Russian assertiveness, the US retreat from Nato and traditional Euro-Atlantic structures and China“s rise as a geopolitical force. But this narrative has served to legitimise a militarising agenda that, away from the spotlight, is being set and pushed by defence industry interests and their political cheerleaders.Countries in Scandinavia and central and eastern Europe, including the Baltic states, Poland, Romania, Finland and Sweden, have all increased military expenditure as part of this creep towards arming and organising for potential use of lethal force. Major western European countries have kept the annual military spending-to-GDP ratio stable, but at least four are consistently among the biggest military spenders in the world. Last year, France spent EUR57.2bn (£48bn), Germany EUR44.4bn, Italy EUR25bn and Spain EUR16bn. In the UK, defence spending topped EUR50bn. As a comparison, Russia, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute database, spent EUR55bn. The vast sums being devoted to maintain and build up the military capacity of individual EU countries come at a time when, with Brexit and the rise of nationalism in former iron curtain countries, the EU itself has never appeared so weak.France has been at the forefront of promoting a European defence union Related: The `crisis of capitalism“ is not the one Europeans think it is | Branko Milanovi“c Continue reading...
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