Europe mustn't build its own house of dynamite | Letters

"Most Europe-centric alternative proposals approach the issue from a traditional hard security perspective, not fully severing Nato ties but prioritising EU-led decision-making, often starting as a Nato-plus complement before evolving into a standalone entity. Such thinking also generally proposes major increases in military spending, an EU-based command structure independent of the US, integrated European military capabilities, a shared European nuclear deterrent, and binding mutual defence commitments."

"However, recreating a European-led house of dynamite will simply compound existing insecurities. A radical departure from traditional power politics is needed, drawing inspiration from successful neutral states (Austria, Ireland and Switzerland) and human security frameworks pioneered by the UN and Nordic countries. While challenging to implement, a compelling model for sustainable security without nuclear deterrence or offensive military capabilities could be developed."

"It would embrace a highly credible and transparent whole-society deterrence-by-denial and resilient-resistance approach, rather than a far less credible all-or-nothing threat of dominance and absolute mutual annihilation. This proposed European architecture is based upon ideas that human creativity, solidarity and moral courage can replace nuclear terror and offensive might. It is visionary, but not naive grounded in proven concepts and successful neutral states. The question is: do European societies have the wisdom to choose long-term human security over short-term military superiority?"

Europe must prepare for a post-Nato future by rethinking conventional hard-security answers. Proposals that prioritize EU-led military structures, increased spending, integrated capabilities and a shared nuclear deterrent risk compounding insecurities. An alternative path draws on neutral states and human security frameworks to develop a sustainable architecture without nuclear deterrence or offensive forces. The model centers on transparent, whole-society deterrence-by-denial and resilient resistance, leveraging societal resilience, creativity, solidarity and moral courage. The approach favors long-term human security, non-offensive defence and credible deterrence through denial rather than mutual annihilation or dominance.

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