The Overthinker's Journal

Today, Secretary of Defense Hegseth went to Europe and delivered a message to our NATO allies.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/4521023/remarks-by-secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-at-the-2026-nato-defense-ministerial-i

“For too long, NATO has been a paper tiger and a one-way street. No more, and that’s what the Hague Summit is all about. That’s what defense spending commitments are all about, transforming NATO back into a real military alliance that’s focused on hard power and real deterrence, a NATO 3.0 modeled on the NATO 1.0 that won the Cold War, with our allies actually taking the lead in Europe’s conventional defense, and that’s what NATO was always supposed to be, and what its framers, like President Eisenhower, always expected. Europe was not supposed to be a dependency of the United States.”

Got it? Europe, you shouldn’t rely on America. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and defend European interests on your own. Don’t depend on us.

“Yet, for all these early steps in the right direction, there have also been real setbacks that we cannot ignore. For all of our clarity, too many allied capitals seem to still miss something in translation. Too many allies still don’t recognize the historic need that President Trump has made clear to them and to NATO itself to reforge a relevant, powerful military alliance. As President Trump put it, and rightfully so, he gave our allies attest [sic] to support America when we asked for their help, and too many failed it.”

Got it? Europe, we should be able to rely on you. Defend American interests and support us. We depend on you.

If Europe is expected to take primary responsibility for defending European interests, shouldn’t European governments also have the right to decide when or even if American military actions align with their interests?

That is a very one-sided relationship. We are telling Europe that we’re not going to be there for you, but you’d better be there for us.

Are we truly a superpower if we can’t fight a war without Europe’s help, while also saying we can’t be bothered to support our friends?