Munich security conference

[Seamus Fermanagh]

You mean like how things are run in Afghanistan?.

You'd get few arguments from me on that. Despite all of our technical prowess and tactical acumen, the USA has seldom used its military in a rationally effective manner. We generally hedge ourselves in with artificial ROE, under-commit resources, worry about "hearts and minds" at the wrong part of the process, and respond with technology to things that need a human touch and with a human touch when we've already poisoned the well for many such interactions. We only rarely do things in the proper order: all-out KATN, Suppress and impose order (1-3 years), Marshall Plan (Years 2-10), then leave. I've always been of the opinion that, while costly, the latter strategy would actually SAVE resources over the long term.

Anyway: disband all European armies, I say. Civilized nations solve their problems with words, not guns. Time for us to stop being the most vilent part of the world.

....ah, the great dream. I have doubts about its efficacy until "civilization" as you are using it here is a universal norm. Best wishes to you.

On the other hand, combine this with my earlier posts regarding funding a bit, and I would say you are onto something.

Most of Europe, as it stands now, spends far too much on their militaries. I do not mean that they spend too much in terms of what they could spend economically, but that the levels of spending are a huge waste. If you are not going to fund a military that can make a practical difference to your defense/strategic objectives, then why waste the money in the first place? It's like that old saw about the most expensive thing in the world was the second-best navy -- cause it gets sunk and the resources are effectively wasted. Europe should either fund legitimately useful forces (either unilaterally or multilaterally if they prefer) or it should just give up the game and focus its funding on police, drug rehab, education, and other social welfare.

Specifics:

What is the point of a 20k person army in Belgium? They possess no heavy armor, few tracked vehicles, and little artillery. Aside from 30k worth of military and civilian jobs, what good is a force size that would have trouble defending Antwerpen?

The Royal Navy has 77 hulls (discounting the perma-docked), 19 of which are under 100t displacement. Major surface vessels and subs, combined, represent fewer than 30 vessels -- one large integrated task force. Does that level of force make sense? The RN has ONE potential force projection effort possible at any given time. The RN's value in defending England would be negligible. Is one tool of force projection worth the cost?

Denmark has a smaller military than Belgium, but still maintains more than 800 vehicles and the RDAF fields two squadrons of fighter-bombers. Despite its smaller size, the force is significantly more expensive -- and expensive to maintain -- than that of Belgium.