Anti-war.com: Get Out of Europe; Avoid a New Cold War - by Doug Bandow

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Get Out of Europe; Avoid a New Cold War - by Doug Bandow

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, last year the combined defense expenditures of Europe's 24 members ran about $212 billion; the U.S. spent two and a half times as much. Yet the Europeans had a collective GDP of $14.2 trillion, about a trillion dollars more than America's economic output; their aggregate population was 535 million, almost 80 percent more than that of the U.S.

But the Europeans really can't be blamed for free-riding on America. European voters understandably prefer more munificent welfare programs to more armored divisions.

Thus, it is time for the U.S. to go home. Peace and stability in Europe are obviously of more interest to Europe than to America. Yet Europeans see no need for expansive and expensive modern military forces. Without a hegemonic, anti-American power threatening the continent, Washington also has no cause to worry, let alone to keep some 100,000 troops on the continent.

Washington would do well to step back and rethink its approach to both Europe and Russia. The Europeans are and will remain good friends, but they do not need defending by Washington. If they want to suppress conflict around their continent and eliminate Russia's influence over even its neighbors, they are welcome to try, but without America's help. If, in contrast, they decide that geopolitical squabbles on Russia's border, like Estonia, or minor civil wars at the continent's periphery, like in the Balkans, are not worth military intervention, then neither should the U.S. Washington can remain watchful and wary of any potential hegemonic threats which could overwhelm Europe, but today an invasion from Mars seems more likely.