Transformed Europe

 

The Ukraine War Has Transformed Europe—for Good

The notion of a Zeitenwende—a major turning point—is not just German anymore. Putin’s war has become a Zeitenwende for all Europe.

by WILLIAM KRISTOL AND JEFFREY GEDMIN 

 

MARCH 3, 2023 5:30 AM

The landmark Brandenburg Gate is illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag amid Russia-West tensions on Ukraine in Berlin on February 23, 2022 following Russia's recognition of eastern Ukrainian separatists - Russia faced a furious global diplomatic and economic backlash after President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces into Ukraine to secure two breakaway regions. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)

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Here’s a brief report from a just-concluded trip to Europe, where we had private and candid discussions in Prague and Berlin with Czechs and Germans, but also with Finns, Danes, Lithuanians, Poles, Belarusians, Slovaks, Romanians, and Ukrainians.

It’s worth saying that the people with whom we spoke were, admittedly, pretty much all of a pro-Ukrainian and pro-American bent. So take our conclusions with that caveat. But consider also that our interlocutors thought Europe’s pro-Putin and anti-American lobby was on the defense and shrinking.

And consider more fundamentally: Zeitenwende—the idea that we are at a major, even transformational, turning point—is not just a German affair. Europe as a whole is at a Zeitenwende.

Yesterday’s Europe—say, from 1991 through 2021—was a Europe of peace and plenty, of allergy to conflict, of high if somewhat fuzzy and even fanciful hopes, and ultimately of a certain amount of evasion and complacency. Malignant nationalism in the Balkans? Saddam Hussein’s war against Kuwait? Those problems were seen as anomalies, final gasps of a geostrategic, hard-power past. They were also solved relatively quickly, without immense sacrifice, and chiefly with the help of American leadership and military might—which, it was assumed, were mostly instruments of the past to deal with problems of the past.