Can Europe match Russia’s remarkable rise in weapons production?

‘You need to understand that if Europe is under attack we will never come to help you and to support you,’ Donald Trump reportedly told top European officials while he was U.S. president. In the present situation, with a war not seen on this scale since 1945 being fought in geographical (if not yet political) Europe, it’s now imperative for the region to review its reliance on the White House, its assumed ally and source of support since the end of WW2. This time round, it may well have to fall back on its own reserves and stamina – but does it have enough of either? As Mircea Geoanã, Nato deputy secretary general pointed out recently, the problem is not just one of money but military industrial capacity: since the end of the Cold War, Europe has been living on dividends of peace, complacent such a situation would last.

In Russia, the current picture’s very different.