Only a Euroweenie Would Bring a Sheet of Paper to a Gunfight

I tried to find the exact best snippet to post from today’s Robert Kagan column, but it couldn’t be done. So here are the second and third best bits, mashed-up as the kids like to say:

Today, however, European expansion has slowed and perhaps halted, and not just because Europeans balk at taking in Turkey. They also fear resurgent Russia. They realize that by enlarging eastward, Europe acquired a new Eastern problem. Or, rather, the old Eastern problem, the centuries-old contest between Russia and its near neighbors…

But Europe may be institutionally and temperamentally ill-equipped to respond. Can it bring a knife to a knife fight?

Disarmament always gives the advantage to the thugs. Europe has been disarming itself, militarily and morally for six decades now. It will be interesting to see if they can stand up to even a second-rate thug like Russia.