After the NATO summit: The road to European leadership in defence
marianna.liana…
Thu, 07/09/2026 – 16:15
5 minutes
The Ankara NATO summit is in the rearview mirror. Beyond the rhetoric on unity, new commitments to Ukraine and defence contract announcements, the summit has not altered the fundamental trajectory of European security: the US is incrementally withdrawing capabilities from the continent; European confidence in US commitments is falling; and Europeans must plan to deter Russia on their own.
Strengthening European military capabilities, not least by acquiring those enablers for which Europeans still rely on the US, is a crucial part of the puzzle. But the challenge goes beyond acquiring capabilities, and reflects the need to replace the US ‘backbone’ in European deterrence – that is, taking leadership in defence planning, force organisation and operational command. Europeans need to think about how they can plan and organise this transition, by giving more coherence to their efforts across various frameworks.
Rethinking planning and warfighting
Europeans need a realistic assessment of what they need to do to take the lead …read more
