US-EU fracture set to dominate Munich Security Conference

A growing Western fracture looks set to dominate a gathering of global defense officials that opens in Munich today, with Europe fitfully seeking to reduce its dependence on a US it sees as increasingly unreliable.

Polls suggest that Europeans are downbeat about the continent’s future, and view Washington far more negatively than before US President Donald Trump took office.

As a result, European nations have sought to club together to boost defense capabilities, reduce reliance on US technology, and diversify trade ties. Weaning off the US will be tough, but as one veteran diplomat told the journalist Noah Barkin, “We need to plan for a world where the US is seeking to undermine everything we hold dear.”