I think there’s one really telling passage in E. Wayne Merry’s consideration of European countries rearming themselves at 1945:
Most NATO members regarded their militaries and defense industries more as jobs programs than as national security because, after all, defense was the responsibility of the Americans.
Where could they have possibly gotten that idea? The answer is simple: we’ve been telling them that for the last 75 years.
Does no one see a conflict between defense being the responsibility of the Americans and Europe paying its share? Apparently not.
Here’s a fun little graph illustrating French, German, and British defense spending as a percentage of GDP:
In case you’re wondering here’s a graph of the GDPs of those country also from the World Bank:
It looks to me as though their real spending had declined. Clearly, they’ve believed us.
The reality was that before Nuland and the other neocons began their rampages (Kosovo, Georgia, Ukraine…) there was no threat to European countries. None. Even now, in the midst of the Russo-Ukrainian war, there is no Russian threat to any country in Europe.
However, there are numerous European and American leaders who actually want a war with Russia, and who are maneuvering to start one. Nuland’s recent so-called resignation/retirement (at 62) probably signals that the Biden administration is backing away from the war mongers, and that there will be no war with Russia, unless the Brits, Germans, and French slip the leash.