{"id":241268,"date":"2026-07-26T08:55:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T08:55:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=241268"},"modified":"2026-07-26T08:55:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T08:55:01","slug":"the-economist-urges-war-preparations-europeans-should-get-used-to-the-idea-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/the-economist-urges-war-preparations-europeans-should-get-used-to-the-idea-of-war\/","title":{"rendered":"The Economist urges war preparations: Europeans should get used to the idea of war"},"content":{"rendered":"

The British magazine The Economist<\/em>, which has taken a hard line against Russia for years, has published a guest article<\/a> discussing the deployment of European soldiers to Ukraine as a means of psychologically preparing Europe for a possible larger war.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The author argues that the starting point of this article is the observation that many Europeans are unwilling to support a war against Russia. Surveys in several European countries have shown for years that the willingness to fight or die in military operations outside one’s own territory is limited.<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, The Economist<\/em> published a guest article by political scientist Nathalie Tocci, James Anderson Professor of Practice at the School of Advanced International Studies Europe at Johns Hopkins University. In it, she poses the question of whether Europe can develop the necessary will to deter without itself being directly drawn into a war.<\/p>\n

She writes:<\/p>\n

\u201cEuropean heads of state and government are aware that a conflict is closer than ever before \u2013 hence the sharp increase in defence budgets, as was clearly demonstrated at the recent NATO summit in Ankara<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It goes on to say:<\/p>\n

\u201cSince Russia\u2019s large-scale invasion in 2022, European leaders have often expressed their admiration for the resilience of the Ukrainian people. But behind the Europeans\u2019 amazement lies something else: the fear that they themselves might not be able to display the same resolve. \u2026\u2026. Can the spirit needed to deter war be summoned in Europe without fully entering into war itself?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

In the opinion of the author of this commentary, Tocci’s answer is ultimately: No<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Tocci then argues that Europe needs to prepare its population for a potential war. One possibility is to send European troops to Ukraine now.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne way to strengthen the population is to send ground troops to Ukraine. For months, a European coalition of the willing has been working on plans to send a \u2018pacification force\u2019 to Ukraine after a ceasefire. These talks have not led to any results, as a ceasefire is not in sight<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia has repeatedly stated that foreign troops in Ukraine \u2013 regardless of whether they are presented as \u201cpeacekeeping forces<\/em>\u201d, \u201cpacification forces<\/em>\u201d or under any other designation \u2013 are considered enemy forces.<\/p>\n

Tocci goes a step further in her article, however. She argues that deploying European soldiers could benefit Europe itself even before a ceasefire:<\/p>\n

\u201cA European peacekeeping force would then offer little help to Ukraine. However, deploying it now, before a hypothetical ceasefire, could benefit Europe by encouraging its citizens to develop an understanding that better prepares them for war. Yes, this would put European soldiers at risk \u2013 such a move would undoubtedly anger the Kremlin \u2013 but the continent is already engaged in a hybrid conflict, even if many refuse to acknowledge it<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The author of the commentary questions this argument. He asks what concrete benefit there could be in deliberately exposing European soldiers to a higher risk in order to psychologically prepare the population for war.<\/p>\n

He also finds the justification of an already existing \u201chybrid war<\/em>\u201d unconvincing. He refers, among other things, to earlier reports about alleged Russian drones over Copenhagen. Later, The Economist<\/em> itself reported that the Danish police had found no evidence of such drones.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn June, the Danish police halted their investigation, stating that they had been unable to confirm the existence of drones or to determine who might have sent them<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tocci continues:<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving European soldiers stationed in Ukraine would bring reality closer to home. And perhaps some of the Ukrainian courage, humility, and creativity could spread to other European societies. European troops would not be put at risk out of pure generosity, but to help prepare for war \u2013 and to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the continent<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The author counters that, in his view, deploying German, French, or Italian soldiers to Ukraine would increase rather than decrease the risk of a direct military confrontation with Russia. He doubts that such a step would deter Moscow and argues instead that it could lead to further escalation, even attacks on European capitals.<\/p>\n

In his view, the guest article shows that it is less about preventing a war than about psychologically accustoming the European population to the idea of a larger military conflict.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, the author makes a polemical remark to Nathalie Tocci. If she is convinced that the deployment of European soldiers is necessary, she should lead by example. He writes that the Ukrainian commander-in-chief, General Syrsky, will surely find a place for her in one of his assault regiments.<\/p>\n

Author: Moon of Alabama<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nJuly 26, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The British magazine The Economist, which has taken a hard line against Russia for years, has published a guest article discussing the deployment of European soldiers to Ukraine as a means of psychologically preparing Europe for a possible larger war. The author argues that the starting point of this article is the observation that many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1090],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-censored-news-military-5127-en-censored-sensational-news-3480-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241268"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241272,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241268\/revisions\/241272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}