Federico Bordonaro

Second part of the interview with Exploring Geopolitics.

France is about to re-enter NATO’s integrated command. This is a sea-change in French defence policy, and will have important consequences for Europe. Paris has been the champion of Europe’s strategic autonomy from the US and NATO, but now it has abandoned its Gaullist orientation. France’s opposition to US foreign policy in the 2000s (see the Iraqi war) has not brought about the formation of a European strategic core in the sense that Paris hoped; instead, it has caused deep divisions within Europe, and therefore a malfunctioning of Europe’s political engine.

Moreover, Europeans don’t spend much on defence. Only the UK (that is, a staunch US ally) spends about 2% of its GDP for defence; the average defence spending in the EU is 1.7%, which does not allow Europe to live up to its previous ambitions and expectations.

Therefore, the emerging trend is that Europe wants NATO to be reinforced, and ESDP to be developed in coordination with NATO and the US. European elites want a new era of Trans-Atlantic cooperation in strategic matters, although different perceptions will continue to cause misunderstanding or malaise at times. One of the most difficult issues to solve is that the US wants Europe to spend more on defence and to get more involved in Afghanistan. Europeans have much trouble in satisfying such requests.

But one thing seems clear to me: the EU is not becoming a world power in the true sense; it is becoming an increasingly important diplomatic player, but it will continue to need the US and NATO to project power.