Europe’s response to the American and Israeli strikes on Iran has been shameful: stunned, sidelined, and disunited.
From Gaza to Tehran, European leaders continue to project a dismal image — unable to defend European interests, unwilling to hold Washington and Tel Aviv accountable, and therefore impotent in the face of great-power predation.
This failure is not merely moral; it is strategic.
Rising energy costs, disrupted supply chains, and the knock-on effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine and punitive US trade measures show that Europe pays dearly when it cannot influence the decisions of its allies.
The Iranian regime is abhorrent and merits condemnation from anyone who values human rights.
But the joint US-Israeli strikes, judged by the vast majority of legal experts to be unlawful, demanded a European stance rooted in international law, not timorous deference to a bullying ally.
Instead, aside from Spain’s immediate declaration that the attack was unlawful and belated echoes from a few capitals, most European governments and institutions chose cowardice over principle.
Germany’s refusal to “lecture” the US about breaches of international law during the chancellor’s Washington visit, and his failure to defend Spain when the US threatened trade measures, were particularly humiliating.
This is the continent that once led the world in building institutions to restrain violence and advance commerce. It now risks becoming an appendage to great power ambitions.
Washington-Moscow-Beijing axis?
Threats to the rules-based order come from every direction.
In Washington, a resource-hungry, neo-imperialist and transactional strain of geopolitics treats sovereign states as reservoirs to be exploited, from Venezuela and Greenland to Iran and parts of Ukraine, showing little regard for sovereignty or long-term stability.
In Moscow, a revanchist Kremlin pursues territorial revisionism with blunt force, trampling the sovereignty of neighbours once under Soviet dominion.
In Beijing, an assertive one-party state seeks regional hegemony and global leverage through economic dependency, technological dominance, and coercive diplomacy.
Each trend directly undermines Europe’s prospects for strategic autonomy.
When major powers weaponise supply chains, energy, finance, technology, and force, smaller countries and middle powers are compelled into painful compromises: political space erodes, strategic options vanish, and future prosperity is mortgaged.
Europe’s only credible response is to act as a unified middle power that defends the legal and institutional scaffolding of international life. Anything less invites the return of ‘might makes right.’
Yet unity is precisely what Europe lacks.
The rise of populist and nationalist leaders within member states has fractured common policy, turned strategic debates into domestic theatre, and allowed self-interested capitals to veto collective action at moments of consequence.
When national leaders prioritise short-term domestic gains or appease authoritarian partners, collective credibility evaporates. Fragmentation undermines not only EU policy but the very idea that Europe stands for predictable, law-governed international relations.
Where persuasion fails, the Union must be prepared to act without — and at times around — such spoilers. Security and prosperity for the many cannot be held hostage by the few. Qualified-majority procedures and flexible coalitions of the willing should be routine tools when urgent collective action is required.
If states such as Hungary or Slovakia (or even Germany, when it soft-pedals criticism of Israel) repeatedly block measures that protect European security or uphold fundamental principles, their obstructionism cannot be allowed to paralyse the Union.
Words must be matched by capabilities. Legal posturing alone will not deter tanks, coercive economic statecraft, or unilateral military strikes. Europe must invest meaningfully in defence: build credible conventional forces, reinforce joint logistics and production, secure supply chains, and confront the realities of nuclear deterrence.
Shield and carrot
Equally critical is Europe’s economic posture. Strategic independence requires secure energy supplies, resilient supply chains for critical technologies and raw materials, and industrial policies that prioritise strategic sectors.
Europe must wield trade policy as both shield and carrot. Trump’s tariffs, which the US Supreme Court found illegal, should be met with an assertive European response using the full array of countermeasures at Brussels’ disposal.
Economic power must be married to principled diplomacy: the world’s largest trading bloc must make clear that market access comes with responsibilities and that violations of sovereignty, human rights, or international law carry tangible consequences.
Europe has applied such pressure to Russia; it must be equally willing to act when transgressions come from Washington or Tel Aviv.
The European Commission’s sanctions proposal against the Netanyahu government, tabled months ago over breaches of the Association Agreement, must not be allowed to wither.
Standing up to bullies is smart politics
Standing up to a bullying US president, or an Israeli prime minister facing serious indictments for war crimes, is not merely an exercise in moral posturing — it can be smart politics.
Just like with Gaza, Spain’s PM Pedro Sanchez has led European opposition to the US-Israeli war (Source: European Union)
Leaders who push back, like Spain’s prime minister, can expect cross-party domestic support. Trump’s foreign adventurism lacks broad backing among American voters today, and even parts of his Republican base are divided over policy towards Iran and Palestine.
A prolonged conflict in the Middle East risks negative economic blowback that neither American nor European electorates will welcome.
Crucially, the Global South will be the ultimate judge of whether Europe is serious. Africa, Asia, and Latin America represent the majority of UN members and watch Western politics with increasing scepticism.
Hypocrisy will cost Europe dearly. The US and Israel’s violations of international law in the Middle East, from unlawful military action to the continuing illegal occupation and denial of Palestinian rights, offer a stark test.
Standing passively with Washington and Tel Aviv when core legal norms are breached will erode Europe’s moral and political capital and undermine its ability to forge trusted partnerships beyond its neighbourhood.
Europe must instead demonstrate consistent respect for international law: condemn unlawful attacks, advocate accountability, and protect humanitarian norms. If Europe wishes to form durable alliances with middle powers across the Global South, it must be seen as independent, principled, and willing to challenge abuses regardless of the perpetrator.
Supporting Palestinian self-determination through coordination with The Hague Group, where South Africa and Colombia lead, would be a consequential and credible step. The political capital gained by such stances will pay dividends in trade, energy cooperation, and security partnerships.
To build those alliances, Europe should prioritise pragmatic cooperation with states that share the belief in a rules-based system.
Strengthen ties not only with traditional OECD partners but with regional leaders across Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Together, these actors can create alternative architectures that preserve open seas, protect critical supply lines, and uphold dispute-resolution mechanisms. Security arrangements, free trade agreements, coordinated sanctions regimes, and joint investments in infrastructure and technology can form a bulwark against unilateral coercion.
The alternative is grim
If Europe remains split, a mere adjunct to someone else’s policy —whether Washington’s resource-driven adventurism, Moscow’s revanchism, or Beijing’s economic strangulation — it will forfeit its values and its interests.
The 20th century showed that appeasement and paralysis invite catastrophe; the 21st must not repeat those mistakes.
Europe must be strategic and pragmatic but anchored to core principles: the rule of law, respect for sovereignty, human dignity, and equitable economic relations. If Europe can act together to defend those principles, build credible military and industrial capabilities, and cultivate trusted partnerships across the Global South, it can reclaim the influence needed to shape a more stable and just international order.
The time for equivocation is over. Europe must choose collective strength built on law and alliances – or accept being buffeted, divided, and diminished by those who believe that power trumps principle.