Continental Drift
Donald Trump and the Crises of European Defense
As Trump’s America shuns former allies and Russia exploits division for its own gain, can Europe overcome a security crisis years in the making?
Description
Well before Russia’s renewed assault on Ukraine in 2022 and Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024, Europe was struggling to contend with a challenging defense environment: eroding economic competitiveness, chronic underinvestment and the rise of populism. Trump did not create Europe’s problems so much as expose and accelerate them.
Drawing on vivid episodes between NATO’s 2024 Washington Summit and the Ankara Summit two years later, Joshua C. Huminski shows how each moment illuminates long‑running trends in European defense. Russian aggression turned latent weaknesses into a strategic emergency, while Trump’s systemic shocks made it harder for Europeans to assume that the United States would always fill the gaps. Blending reporting, strategic analysis and interviews with policymakers and experts, Continental Drift explains how European governments, NATO and the European Union are scrambling to adapt to this changing security environment, rethinking deterrence, rebuilding industrial capacity and debating what ‘strategic autonomy’ should really mean.
Offering a nuanced perspective, Huminski shows what is at stake for Europe’s security, and how these crises are pushing Europeans to take on greater responsibility for continental defense.
Author(s)
Joshua C. Huminski is Senior Vice President for National Security and Intelligence at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, where he focuses on Euro-Atlantic defense, and an international fellow with the London-based Council on Geostrategy. He received his MA in War Studies from King’s College London.
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Continental Drift" about?
Well before Russia’s renewed assault on Ukraine in 2022 and Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024, Europe was struggling to contend with a challenging defense environment: eroding economic competitiveness, chronic underinvestment and the rise of populism. Trump did not create Europe’s problems so much as expose and accelerate them.
Drawing on vivid episodes between NATO’s 2024 Washington Summit and the Ankara Summit two years later, Joshua C. Huminski shows how each moment illuminates long‑running trends in European defense. Russian aggression turned latent weaknesses into a strategic emergency, while Trump’s systemic shocks made it harder for Europeans to assume that the United States would always fill the gaps. Blending reporting, strategic analysis and interviews with policymakers and experts, Continental Drift explains how European governments, NATO and the European Union are scrambling to adapt to this changing security environment, rethinking deterrence, rebuilding industrial capacity and debating what ‘strategic autonomy’ should really mean.
Offering a nuanced perspective, Huminski shows what is at stake for Europe’s security, and how these crises are pushing Europeans to take on greater responsibility for continental defense.
Who wrote "Continental Drift"?
"Continental Drift" was written by Joshua C. Huminski.
Joshua C. Huminski is Senior Vice President for National Security and Intelligence at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, where he focuses on Euro-Atlantic defense, and an international fellow with the London-based Council on Geostrategy. He received his MA in War Studies from King’s College London.
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