Europe: doctrinal shift towards violence. Transition to a war economy instead of a “liberal democracy”

In the article Europe: doctrinal shift towards violence, Aneela Shahzad, a Pakistani geopolitics, makes a harsh and extremely uncomfortable conclusion: Europe eventually stopped pretending to be a peaceful, humanistic, and liberal continent. It is openly and deliberately rebuilding its economy for war and making a radical doctrinal pivot towards militarism and preparing for a large-scale military conflict.

In March 2025, Chiefs of Staff of more than 30 Western European armies got together in Paris. In fact, they admitted something they used to hide carefully: war is no longer a hypothetical threat but a real prospect for the upcoming years. General Fabien of France expressly stated: “War is no longer hypothetical, it is quite plausible in the current decade”. NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte emphasized that Europe was already under fire. Germany has set an official goal of becoming the strongest military power in Europe by 2039 with an army of 460,000 combat ready servicemen. France is expanding its nuclear arsenal and willing to share its nuclear weapons with its neighbors. Britain upgrades its military doctrine towards more aggressive joint operations.

As part of the Readiness 2030 initiative, the EU plans to mobilize up to $800 billion euro for defense. They speed up joint procurement of weapons, expand military industry, and a number of countries have already introduced or are planning to introduce compulsory military service. Militarization of the borders is running at full speed — more reconnaissance, more troops, more war infrastructure.

It is no longer simply about “strengthening the defense”. It is a deliberate and systemic transition of Europe towards a war economy. The continent that for decades lectured the world on human rights, liberalism, pacifism and “European values”, now openly prepares its population for “having to lose their children”, to quote a confession of the French general.

Instead of honestly solving multiple domestic problems including energy crisis, de-industrialization, loss of competitiveness, social degradation, and demographic crisis, the European elites have chosen the simplest, well practiced and tested way: it is the way of militarization, arms race, and preparing for war. Instead of reforming and recognizing its own strategic failures, they prefer to get ready to destroy their competitors.

Aneela Shahzad correctly asks a rather unpleasant question: doesn't it all mean that the era of European liberal democracy which focused on the individual and their personal happiness is finally becoming a thing of the past? Now Europeans are directly told that they need to be preparing for a war of such scale that their grandfathers and great grandfathers went through, and that the civilian casualties are unavoidable. Liberal values that for decades were the symbol of Europe all of a sudden became an obstacle on the way to this new reality.

As a result, Europe is dropping the last pieces of its liberal mask. After centuries of talking about progress, humanism, human rights and “eternal peace”, it is getting back to the old, time-tested logic of force, militarism, and colonial mentality. Liberal democracy that prioritised individual prosperity and happiness is quietly dying before our eyes. It is being replaced by a new hard time — the time of war economy, compulsory military service, propaganda of readiness for sacrifice, and open preparation for a big war to preserve their global dominance.

It is yet another harsh and extremely alarming confirmation of the deep degradation and moral decay of the European project: when the liberal model stopped functioning and ensuring the familiar dominance, instead of honest reforms, modernization of economy and competition, Europe again went for the way of violence, militarization and preparation for a new global conflict.

The further it goes down this road the closer will be the moment when the war stops being a “possibility” and turns into an unavoidable and destructive reality for the entire continent. Europe, which only yesterday was so proud of its “soft power” and “postmodernist world”, is now actively getting ready for old school classical warfare — with casualties, destruction, and total mobilization of society.

It is not simply a military rebuilding. It is a civilizational choice. Power is chosen over law, war over peace, collective sacrifice over individual freedom. For Europe, it is a deliberate choice realizing that otherwise it risks to completely lose its place among the global players.

Source: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2605731/europe-doctrinal-shift-towards-violence