Amerikas Star schwingt. Jetzt müssen Großbritannien und Europa aufsteigen – mit Bomben und Hilfe [OPINION]

***Paul Nuki writes for The Telegraph***:

Britain and much of the rest of the world has been impoverished and divided by a $16 trillion pandemic and is about to respond by slashing spending on disease prevention. If it were not so serious it would be funny.

It’s true that the history of 20th century Europe leaves us little room for manoeuvre. A violent and expansionist ultranationalist force is once again on the march and our principal ally – the one whose aid spending did so much to develop post war Europe – has gone AWOL.

As Friedrich Merz, Germany’s Chancellor elect, put it on Monday: “This is really five minutes to midnight for Europe.”

“[We must] strengthen Europe as quickly as possible, so that we achieve independence from the US”.

Having learnt the lesson of Munich 1938 (and listened to the US Vice President there earlier this month), Britain, France and Germany now appear moving fast to plug the gap. 

Through a new “European rearmament bank” or similar, they hope to leverage Europe’s vast $29 trillion economy to rearm in time to prevent Russia pushing further west, while at the same time buying us genuine strategic autonomy from the US.

A Europe that put 5 per cent per cent of GDP into its own defence industries each year would not just have a seat at the new table of great powers and strong men, it would outgun them all. 

And yet how safe and secure would we really be? 

Yes, we would be better placed to see off aggression of the sort we have seen from Russia over the last three years, which is vital.

And, yes, a Europe which was able to escape its role as America’s poodle, would be able to pursue its own interests and alliances more effectively – also vital in a multipolar world.

But without continued investment in what we misleadingly call overseas “aid”, Britain and Europe will remain horribly exposed.

The money we and others spend overseas is, for the large part, not about charity or what is morally right, but about bolstering our own economic and security needs.

**Full story:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/americas-star-is-waning-now-britain-and-europe-must-step-up/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/americas-star-is-waning-now-britain-and-europe-must-step-up/)