The 'Asia First' policy argument that the U.S. should focus entirely on China and let Europe handle Russia has intellectual appeal but suffers from serious liabilities: even if European NATO members doubled military spending, it wouldn't solve how to sustain Ukraine for 3-4 years because European defense industrial bases cannot do that, and it wouldn't address Russia's hyperactive revisionism and risky sabotage/subversion efforts within the West.
causalpending
Speaker
Hal BrandsEvidence Quote
“even if in some magical world the European part of NATO was to double military spending today that wouldn't solve the problem of how you sustain Ukraine for the next three or four years because European Defence industrial bases just St in a position to do that”
Source
'We’re Living In a Pre-War World. Great Power War Is No Longer Unthinkable.' | Ep. 49 Hal Brands— Decoding Geopolitics Podcast with Dominik PreslCreated: 8/11/2026, 7:56:42 AM
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