Sari Arho Havrén
Illuminating and interesting threads by @michaeldweiss and @joni_askola I remember talking with some defence people in Washington before Colby was nominated, and hearing the same thing: Colby was not only disliked, but there was anxiety in the air that he would ruin more than he would build. The biggest controversy was already said out loud back then: once you have forced your allies to become militarily independent, where's your leverage to force them to do anything, especially when you treat them like second-tier vassals? Let’s keep in mind, though, that Colby is not Washington, and the transatlantists are still here in Europe, who believe we can save the marriage, just not with MAGA.
michaeldweiss
Joni gets it exactly right. I’d add a few things to his analysis. The EU’s SAFE program to prioritize domestic arms procurement over U.S. purchases is only a logical consequence of the MAGA shakedown of the last eighteen months, a shakedown that has coincided with Colby’s