We need to talk about war

‘Don’t mention the war!’ Remember that? Today, war seems nearly all that European leaders want to talk about. The prospect of conflict with Russia is real, and a confrontation seems increasingly likely. That’s why Europe’s political leaders are beginning to discuss, in frank and sometimes alarming tones, the ways their countries should prepare to fight. Estonia’s prime minister, Poland’s head of national security and the Danish defence minister all say Russia could have the soldiers and equipment to launch an attack in three years. Emmanuel Macron last week met his German and Polish counterparts in Berlin to discuss Europe’s military support for Ukraine, after refusing to rule out – again – deploying French troops onto Ukrainian soil. Talking honestly about war is a good thing.

Most Europeans are blamelessly ignorant about the work of their militaries. A few years ago, a YouGov poll found that 69 per cent of Britons have little idea what the armed forces actually do.