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ABSTRACT
The recent reconceptualization of national and/or defense strategies, hangovers from the sovereign debt crisis, and the impact of the pandemic-induced recession in four of the most powerful European countries – France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom – will have profound implications for the United States. Through Republican and Democratic administrations, most American political leaders, experts in academia and think tanks, and other opinion leaders in the media and elsewhere have consistently held that Europe is vital to American national security. This is particularly true during an era of great power competition, as the United States works to prevent China’s authoritarian governance system and its statist economic model from becoming dominant. Given recent changes in the grand strategies of America’s most important European allies and their shifting abilities to fulfill those strategies, Washington will have an increasingly difficult time fulfilling its own goals and objectives. American strategy relies on European allies for competition with near-peers as well as defense of the global commons and projection of hard and soft power overseas to favorably influence events. Shifting capabilities, capacity, and will within Europe – all framed within evolving European strategies – will make it difficult for Washington to rely on its allies.
Disclosure statement
There are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report.
Notes
1. For a conceptual discussion of the notion of interpolarity, see the Introduction article in this Special Issue.
2. Interview with a senior field-grade U.S. officer based in Washington and expert in Franco-American military relations, 28 February 2019.
3. Interview with an expert on U.S. and European security at a DC-based think tank, 4 December 2018; interview with a Washington-based U.S. field grade officer expert on military relations with France, 28 February 2019.
4. Interview with an American civilian employee of U.S. Army Europe with extensive experience in military-to-military programs across Europe, 13 November 2018.
5. Interview with a French field-grade army officer, 11 February 2019; and interview with a U.S. field-grade officer assigned to U.S. European Command, 15 January 2019.
6. Interview with a French field-grade army officer, 10 March 2022.
7. Interview with a U.S. field-grade officer assigned to U.S. European Command, 15 January 2019.
8. Interview with an expert on French national security at a Paris-based think tank, 4 February 2019.
9. Interview with a Washington-based U.S. field grade officer expert on military relations with France, 28 February 2019.
10. Interview with a Washington-based U.S. field grade officer expert on military relations with France, 28 February 2019.
11. Interview with a U.S. field-grade officer assigned to U.S. European Command, 15 January 2019; interview with a Washington-based U.S. field grade officer expert on military relations with France, 28 February 2019.
12. Interview with a French field-grade army military officer, 11 February 2019.
13. Previously, Germany relied on an equipping policy that saw equipment sets rotate among units, depending on deployment or training needs.
14. Email exchange with a retired German general officer, 5 May 2021.
15. For an in-depth discussion on Germany’s role in taking greater responsibility in Europe and the world, from a comparative perspective, see Cornelia Baciu and Nele Marianne Ewers-Peters. “Differentiated Integration and Role Conceptions in Security Orders. A Comparative Study of France, Germany, Ireland and Romania.” This Special Issue.
16. Interview with a field grade U.S. officer based in Europe with extensive knowledge of U.S.-Italian mil-to-mil ties, 20 March 2019.
17. Interview with an American civilian employee of U.S. Army Europe with extensive experience in military-to-military programs across Europe, 13 November 2018.
18. Interview with a U.S. field grade officer based in Washington who works on U.S.-Italy military-to-military relations, 4 March 2019.
19. Interview with a field-grade U.S. officer based in Washington who works on U.S.-Italy military-to-military relations, 4 March 2019.
20. For instance, in 2020, Italy agreed to deploy 200 troops to the French-led Task Force Takuba, operating in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
21. Interview with a field grade U.S. officer based in Europe with extensive knowledge of U.S.-Italian mil-to-mil ties, 20 March 2019.
22. Interview with a field-grade Italian military officer based in Rome, 3 March 2019.
23. Interview with a field grade U.S. officer based in Europe with extensive knowledge of U.S.-Italian mil-to-mil ties, 20 March 2019.
24. Of the seven ships in the strike group, one is a U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer and another is a Dutch frigate.
25. For more information on the role of the EU in cyber operations, see Xuechen Chen and Xinchuchu Gao. Forthcoming. Role Enactment and the Contestation of Global Cybersecurity Governance. This Special Issue.
26. Interview with a senior field-grade U.S. officer based in Washington and expert in Franco-American military relations, 28 February 2019.
27. Interview with a senior NATO civilian, 11 March 2022.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
John R. Deni
Dr. John R. Deni is a Research Professor of Security Studies the U.S. Army War College, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and an Adjunct Professorial Lecturer at the American University in Washington, DC. Previously, he worked as a political advisor for senior U.S. military commanders in Europe. Prior to that, he spent two years as a strategic planner specializing in the military-to-military relationships between the United States and its European allies. While working in Europe, he was also an adjunct lecturer at Heidelberg University’s Institute for Political Science where he taught graduate and undergraduate courses. Before working in Germany, Dr. Deni spent seven years in Washington, DC as a consultant specializing in national security issues for the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, and State. Dr. Deni completed his undergraduate degree in history and international relations at the College of William & Mary. He holds an MA in U.S. foreign policy from the American University in Washington, DC, and a Ph.D. in international affairs from George Washington University. He is the author or editor of several books, peer-reviewed monographs and journal articles, book chapters, essays, and op-eds all of which can be found at www.johnrdeni.com.