The tragedy of “Westalgia”

Summary — “The tragedy of ‘Westalgia'” (ECFR/Project Syndicate, Mark Leonard, 16 July 2026)

Reflecting on last week’s Ankara NATO summit — where Trump avoided announcing troop withdrawals, pledged a Patriot missile production license for Ukraine, and left with warm words despite unscripted jabs about Greenland and Spanish trade — Leonard argues European leaders’ relief and sycophancy (led by Secretary General Mark Rutte) reflect a deeper malaise he calls “Westalgia.” Drawing a parallel to post-reunification German Ostalgie (nostalgia among East Germans for the old order), he argues Europe is clinging to an outdated vision of ironclad American security guarantees rather than accepting that US retrenchment is structural and will continue even under a future Democratic administration. He identifies three features of Westalgia: denial that the transatlantic relationship has fundamentally changed; free-riding on American security that has left Europe under-invested in defence, industrial capacity, technological sovereignty and energy independence; and a visible subservience to Trump that undermines Europe’s credibility with Washington, Moscow and Beijing alike. Leonard argues the arbitrary NATO pledge to spend 5% of GDP on defence is meaningless without a serious assessment of actual capability gaps, and that Europe will only be taken seriously once it stops performing loyalty to the US and starts building genuine independent capacity.

Some European leaders seem to think that abasing themselves for Donald Trump’s pleasure is necessary to save NATO and keep the Western alliance alive. But by so desperately clinging to the good old days of the transatlantic relationship, Europe’s leaders are risking more than just their dignity