MICHAEL WALSH Correspondent AMERICAN FREE PRESS

Shifting world events have influenced the international landscape. Washington’s disenchantment with the UK and the European Union motivates the latter to manage a painful divorce.

Trump has forced Western European nations to reassess their dependence on American protection, including Washington’s nuclear umbrella.

But what Russia sees in Europe’s nuclear independence is the possible deployment of nuclear missiles to within minutes of Moscow. This is a clear example of the preparation for decapitating their nation.

So much for the American-European estrangement. The real issue is not the end of Atlanticism. It is the electorate’s growing disillusionment with their own unpopular governments.

There is irony in Western Alliance countries pursuing a policy of regime change abroad. Meanwhile, their domestic electorate yearns for regime change in their own countries.

As an aside, I often wonder. Why doesn’t Moscow capitalize on the growing mood for revolt among the electorate of the European Union? Why doesn’t Moscow capitalize on the growing mood for revolt among the United Kingdom?

What does this have to do with Poland’s desire? Poland wants to be included in France’s proposed creation of a nuclear umbrella.

A nuclear umbrella is a security guarantee. In it, a nuclear‑armed state promises to protect allied, non‑nuclear states. This protection involves threatening nuclear retaliation against any attacker.

France is the only EU nation that has an autonomous nuclear deterrent. The UK has an independent nuclear option but is not a member of the European Union.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates France’s stockpile at roughly 300 warheads. These warheads are deliverable by submarine-launched ballistic missiles. They are also deliverable by air-launched cruise missiles.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to expand his country’s nuclear stockpile.

The goal, he said, is to ensure a secrecy-obscured arsenal. “No state, however powerful, could shield itself from it. No state, however vast, would recover from it.”

“To be free, we have to be feared,” declared the French president, whose term expires in 14 months.

The notoriously Russophobic Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk now seek​s a significantly more active role in ‘the European security architecture.’

Poland is reportedly moving to end its role as a passive observer in European nuclear strategy. This signals a historic shift toward a closer defense alliance with France and other continental partners.

Simply put, the former Soviet state wants France to extend its nuclear umbrella to Poland and other non-nuclear EU nations.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also a fervent advocate of a European nuclear bloc.  

The wished-for initiative aims to integrate several European countries into a coordinated system of strategic deterrence. In addition to Poland, potential participants include Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, and Greece.

French officials claim that scattering their military assets across several European locations will complicate strategic calculations. Potential opponents, presumably Russia, will face increased challenges. This strategy increases the collective security of the continent.

Problem: No one thought to ask the French taxpaying electorate. Were they prepared to take the place of Washington in protecting the EU’s 27 nations?

More tellingly, the talking heads of Europe’s idiocracies do not seem to have sought advice from their military intelligentsia. They did this to determine if such a pact was feasible.

Meanwhile, Russia’s bemused head of state, Vladimir Putin, came straight to the point.

“If France enters a war against Russia, it will enter history but exit geography.”

That said, the Russian President has repeatedly stated that “Moscow has no reason and no interest, geopolitical, economic, political or military, to fight NATO countries.”

Putin has constantly reiterated that Moscow is perfectly happy to solemnly sign a declaration of peace with the Western Alliance. 

Yet, each proposal has been pointedly ignored by Western leaders, and Russia’s peace initiative has been shadow-banned by mainstream media.

Fact: Russia, the world’s largest country, shares borders with 14 nations. Of the hostile and provocative NATO nations that share frontiers with Russia, the total population is a mere 56 million.

In the meantime, Russia shares peaceful and mutually prosperous relationships with its non-NATO 1,500 million populations.

Social media offers a far more honest barometer of the people’s sentiment than the government-complicit mainstream media. It indicates electorate empathy with Moscow’s conciliatory stance. There is also abhorrence at the media’s build-up of a war psychosis.

Clearly, the problem is not the people of the UK and the EU but with these nations’ political elites.

On this point, the erudite Vladimir Putin patiently predicts that in Europe, the crisis will bring populist parties to power. These parties will replace the elites.

This is already happening. The populist conservative heads of state in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia are making peaceful overtures. They are also signing trade agreements with Moscow.

Throughout the European Union, elections are pending. These elections will accelerate the shift away from liberal-democratic Russophobic zealots. The change will move towards the more pragmatic nationalist conservative parties.

Finally, large-scale pan-European military projects have a long history of ambitious announcements, and a shorter history of successful implementation.

For now, France’s nuclear ambitions appear to fall into that familiar category.

The schism hasn’t gone unnoticed. Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (2014 ~ 2016) shared his opinion. He said: “You can knock on some European leaders’ heads and ask if anybody’s home.”

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