The U.S. Still Needs Europe to Compete With China

The U.S. Still Needs Europe to Compete With China
U.S. President Joe Biden holds a press conference during the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain, June 30, 2022 (photo for NurPhoto by Celestino Arce via AP).

Does the United States need Europe? That question is currently under much debate in Washington policy circles.

One argument, as captured well by former Trump administration Pentagon official Elbridge Colby, is that since China is the principal threat to the U.S. and seems poised to take increasingly more aggressive actions toward Taiwan, Washington must prioritize deterring and potentially countering Beijing in Asia. While Europe may have problems, most notably the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, they are problems that Europe, not the U.S., must take the lead in solving. Washington can still assist in those efforts, but only as a secondary player.

The other argument, as recently put forward by RAND’s Mike Mazarr in Foreign Affairs, is that pulling back from Europe would make no sense. To the contrary, Mazarr argues that disengaging from its NATO allies in Europe could “badly weaken the United States in its growing competition with China.” Cooperation with Europe strengthens Washington in Asia both directly, such as by coordinating with the British to produce submarines for Australia to counter China, and indirectly, by signaling to allies in East Asia that the U.S. is a dependable security partner wherever there’s trouble.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.