Going it alone<\/p>\n
At the heart of that resistance in Europe is the lack of consultation with allies before the U.S. launched the war, confusion about American war aims, and Trump’s demands mixed with his rage and insults at allies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that there is no full clarity on U.S. war aims and that there was little to no consultation before the war matter,\u201d said a second senior European defense official. \u201cFor countries in the eastern flank, it is also a matter of ensuring their own territorial defense first,\u201d the official added, referring to Russia as the dominant European security concern.<\/p>\n
The closures of airspace and broader rejection of Trump’s war has not been formally discussed inside NATO, according to one senior alliance diplomat. But there are \u201cclearly different views on this,\u201d the diplomat said, acknowledging it was a \u201cdifficult time for transatlantic relations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe general ‘not our war’ approach has of course also to do with the U.S. attitude toward Europe,\u201d said Niclas Herbst, a German center-right lawmaker on the European Parliament’s Defense Committee. \u201cAnd Europe is already busy handling Russia’s war against Ukraine … we surely can\u2019t use more military problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sven Biscop, a political science professor and senior defense analyst at the Egmont Institute, said the tougher stance reflects Europe\u2019s view that the Iran war is a \u201cstrategic folly\u201d and the fact the \u201cU.S. strategy is becoming \u2026 less and less clear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n