To be worried there will be a war in Europe

[Viviennemary]

I don't think there will be. But the media seem to be hell bent on
winding us up about it. I dont understand Trump's attitude at all. He's like not our problem. I thought the USA was meant to be in NATO.

If you think this is 'only' about Ukraine, you haven't been paying attention.

There’s a whole world of stuff going on that we only hear tiny snippets about.

And that's always been the case..the Cold War got close to being hot on several occasions but either the public never heard about it or only heard about it very belatedly (e.g. Able Archer, shots being fired at NATO/US aircraft)..

I also think there is a sense of panic among leaders because of the looming climate crisis. I don't want to sound like a doom monger (ok, I admit I do...) but we will all have to adapt and I think government leaders have no real clue. So what we're seeing now is a desperate scramble for tech dominance in the hope tech will provide solutions, and natural resources. Mass migration will absolutely explode in the next ten years and what we now have is very much a 'pull up the drawbridge now!' kind of mentality. Revolutions usually happen when three factors converge: a political/social crisis, a financial crisis and an environmental crisis.

I'll take a deep breath now, get myself a very strong coffee and try and focus on mundane tasks for the rest of the day...

I'm trying not to think about it too much, as there isn't any point in worrying about stuff that is completely beyond my sphere of influence, but yes, the current situation is very concerning.

Europe has unfortunately relied far too heavily on the US for its security for many decades, and now they are proving that they are no longer a trustworthy ally, it leaves us very vulnerable indeed.

Trump is gunning for a WW3. IMO He would likely try and put a hold on elections during that time so could stay in power.

This. I’m a bit bemused by some of the comments around Trump when he’s not the one causing our issues - it’s the stupidity of our own governments. He rightly is warning them, but whether they will listen is another thing.

This is really important and very worrying!

Tbf the only thing that has got the EU to put in what was it 600bn was the threat of US saying no more. The electorates just won’t have gone for we need to spend more on defence, because it always takes a war like justification.

I don’t want it, I’m sure most fear sending young people more than cables / other things mentioned here.

Fine as said below an organisation wants more money, we get anxiety inducing headlines to justify it.

The whole thing is unconscionable anyway, that people are being sent from any country rn. I can see why EU voters also don’t want to send their dc.

What do you mean "Stupidity of our own Governments"

We voted for lower defence spend.

On Trump, of course he is the one causing the issues, the US is in NATO, we all based our defence requirements on the USA being part of our defence, they very suddenly pulled the rug out from us.

I wonder how many who criticise Labour over tax rises, are now also calling for higher military spend?

In a war & in preparing for one, we will also need far greater capacity in the NHS, in roads, in transport and in industrial regeneration... all requiring huge tax increases.

@Alexandra2001 but no European country was meeting their defence spending commitments as required under NATO. Trump is the only President who managed to get this moving in the right direction.

Revolutions usually happen when people are hungry. That is the driving force.

I meant to say I can see why US voters don’t want to be overly relied upon to send their dc in pp.

Although that probably applies to EU too.

Well, this is all a bit of a kick up the backside, but what annoys me with the US policy right now is the cakeism. For decades, they've done nothing to encourage a more coordinated European defence strategy, instead wanting to be the ultimate arbiters and suppliers. Today, they still want that, just with us paying through the nose for the privilege. The new doctrine is not really about the US disengaging from Europe, on the contrary, it's in fact about getting more money from us. It's a mistake to think we are encouraged to be more independent. That's not what's happening, depressingly enough.

No one ever wants that unless there's a true existential threat to the nation.

@Standfirm.

Yep, European defence spending needs to increase but POTUS very much wants the money going to Lockheed-Martin, Boeing etc, not Dassault, Airbus, BAe or Thales etc..

Trump is not the issue
Stop believing the BBC which has been shown to lie and the Guardian
Putin is intent on a war Trump is the only us president since Roosevelt who has not committed USA to a war
USA does not want to get involved in other people's wars - that includes Europe
The issue is Nato which is weak
Russia committed an act of sabotage in Poland that is an attack on a Nato county
Noto response was zero

I don’t see it that way tbf. If we want to pay more for defence then we just need to put the money in. The US has said pay up in a way that actually works, not much else does. We don’t want war, we don’t want to pay for it either really, all rational and understandable.

I’d prefer not to have the media / headline anxiety but as pp said this is just NATO realising it needs more money from the EU.

So what do you think Ukraine can do
Russia is making ground every day
Ukraine gives in or gets totally overtaken by Russia
The only way that will not happen is if Europe gets involved
Do you want your kids going to fight for Ukraine then is that ok with you

There won't be a war. Scaremongering again. Don't believe the MSM.

I’m concerned that is also the attitude of leaders in Europe including the UK. It makes us weak.

Leaders like the UK's Defence Secretary Grant Shapps suggest we have moved from a "post-war" to a "pre-war" world, facing threats from multiple actors like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. Polls in Europe and the US show that most people think there will be another world war within the next 5 to 10 years.

@StandFirm why is a more coordinated European defence policy the responsibility of the US?

Grant Schapps isn’t defence secretary.

Sorry you're right he served as secretary of state for defence.

It looks like the plan is to get rid of Zelensky (with Trump's hands) in the hope that Ukraine will roll over without him. Next are the Baltics - very small, so easily defeated. Poland will be the next formidable adversary, 20 mln people ready to fight (all Poles have learnt how to use a rifle at secondary state schools in the last 30-20 years), so they could get stuck there for years. I just read now 14-year olds are learning at schools there how to assemble their rifles.
In the UK there have not been any discussions at all about this, people will have no idea until the Russian submarines cut off our power/Internet/gas cables under the sea. However, in order to resist a land attack, we would need a very resilient civilian population and I don't think we have that (just look at everybody's claiming anxiety/poor mental health, blah, blah, blah). Sometimes I feel like the Russians would enter and promise 'no more immigration, lower bills, free food and gas', and the people here would be like... 'whatever, just let me go back to my phone'. Education would have to start at schools now.