European Unity, Yes

but of values or resolve?

In the final weeks leading up to the renewed war in Ukraine, the rally point for the US and its allies was reinvigorated unity within NATO. After years of Trump questioning and excoriating the purpose of the alliance, cheerleaders of the Biden White House were quick to speak of the masterful diplomacy that was conducted behind the scenes to pull everyone together as the war came near.  

Something happened when the bombs of a revanchist invader began to fall on the very European cities of Ukraine. Some visceral muscle memory was activated in Europeans, who shared their grandparents memories of cities being bombarded in WWII, of civilians having nowhere to go to escape the slaughter, of the displacement and upheaval and human and historic carnage.

It’s a different Europe now than it was six months ago. The lines between old and new have become less distinct. Europe has remembered its own history and is thinking about how its actions now will help to preserve its identity into the future.