Anadolu Agency opinion writer Utku Asker argued Oct. 24 that U.S. calls for Europe to assume more of its security burden conflict with Washington's ideological support for far-right movements that can impede joint defense.
Asker's argument centers on whether European countries can organize a shared response. He says far-right movements undermine the political cooperation needed for governments to divide security responsibilities and pursue defense measures together. The piece recommends collective tools, including joint borrowing and coordination across the defense industry, to help European countries carry the burden together.
The opinion piece links Europe's welfare model to the postwar security umbrella provided by the United States. As the international balance changes, Asker writes, European governments face harder decisions about the resources they devote to defense, social benefits and stable public finances. The argument places military responsibility and the continuation of welfare commitments inside the same debate. He treats these as interconnected policy questions.
Those choices also determine who carries the costs. Asker says borrowing would transfer some of the burden to future generations. Reducing public benefits would instead affect retirees, patients and people with low incomes. Joint borrowing, in his account, offers a way to fund a collective security role.
As a historical comparison, Asker cites Britain's 1968 decision to withdraw its forces east of the Suez Canal, a move he argues shifted Gulf security responsibilities toward the United States.
Together, these points make political cohesion central to Asker's case: Europe can shoulder a larger defense role collectively only if governments can agree on both security arrangements and their fiscal consequences. He argues that support for far-right politics complicates that coordination as the international balance changes assumptions behind Europe's welfare and security settlement.
