Europe must finally accept that trade disruption is becoming the norm rather than the exception. The Third Gulf War is only the latest reminder.

The nuclear question is the key one for European defense integration. The good news is that the Europeans seem ready to tackle it.

Without their common currency, EU member states would have struggled to absorb the economic shock of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. 

Vladimir Putin’s ill-judged war against Ukraine has weakened Russia—turning it into a junior partner of China and triggering Europe’s rearmament. Trump’s frontal assault on European democracy will rebound against the United States in a similar way.