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Depending on Washington's goodwill is a gamble Europe can no longer afford, so a genuinely European defense model built on European command, European capabilities and European industry is the only sane path. Sub-regional coalitions with pre-delegated authority can strike fast, while EU money and solidarity hold the whole thing together. Waiting for consensus in a crisis is how a continent gets carved up.
Chasing a separate European defense architecture wastes scarce years and money on duplicating what already works. NATO's collective defense carries decades of command structures, joint exercises and a nuclear umbrella that no treaty clause in Brussels can conjure up, and unanimity rules would paralyze any crisis response. The smarter play is complementing the alliance with sanctions, financing and gray-zone tools.