Europe’s dependence on the US is dragging it underwater?
In the classic Aesop’s Fable, a mouse and a frog tie their feet together to cross a pond. The frog, at home in the water, dives deep, inadvertently drowning the mouse.
Today, Europe is that mouse, tied by the ‘deadly embrace’ of a single boundary, market, and currency, and a rigid security alliance called NATO, led by the US (the frog); the continent is being pulled underwater by the US. Europe’s survival no longer aligns with the interests of the US.
In a recent viral analysis by a YouTube podcast by Yanis Varoufakis titled “We Are Finished,” a German company’s CEO reveals the collapse of German industry.
It serves as a grim autopsy of a continent that has traded its strategic autonomy for a seat at tables where it is no longer a player, but the menu.
The myth of the Green leader
Nowhere is this deadly embrace more apparent than in Europe’s aggressive, almost evangelical posture on climate change.
While the EU implements its Carbon Emissions Policy, a self-imposed tax on its own industrial competitiveness, the world’s two largest polluters have no such pretences.
- China has transformed into the global supply chain behemoth for EVs and solar panels, while its coal use remains the backbone of its industrial dominance, and the EU has been buying everything precisely from this climate policy violator
- The US, under a revived ‘Donroe Doctrine‘, has become the petrochemical behemoth, dumping global climate consensus to lower domestic energy costs, and all policy decisions of NATO have been taken precisely by this big brother.
By forcing its industry to follow the world’s most stringent environmental regulations, sacrificing its own access to cheap energy, Europe is fighting a ‘green war’ with bare hands, both tied behind its back.
Security at a price: From Ukraine to Greenland
The ‘security embrace‘ is proving equally fatal.
Europe has been scoffing at India for maintaining ‘strategic autonomy‘. the simple, common-sense practice of putting national interest first.
India bought Russian oil and Western tech simultaneously, refusing to embrace any single superpower.
Sure enough, India is facing temporary setbacks in its relationship with the US, but at least it is doing well otherwise and is not drowning, like the EU.
The irony is stark. Europe, which bet on NATO for its security, is left in the lurch.
- In Ukraine, the US is working for a negotiated settlement that may involve loss of territory for Ukraine, leaving the EU exposed, and claiming Ukraine’s resources in return for the bill for its reconstruction.
- In Greenland, the protector has become the predator. The claim for Greenland, including the use of military options, has sent shock waves through Denmark and the EU.
It is the ultimate proof that in a ‘deadly embrace’, the stronger partner is most likely to eventually gobble up the weaker ones when interests don’t converge.
A continent of passengers
Europe’s collapse is not an accident of chance; it is a mistake of choice. You can’t build a stable alliance of countries that stops you from acting on your national interest.
- On energy: Europe sacrificed its industrial base to prove a moral point about Russian gas, only to end up buying US LNG at about 4 times the price, and worse, being unable to stop buying essentials from Russia altogether, excuses apart.
- On diplomacy: Europe alienated the Global South by preaching values, only to find itself bullied by its own major ally.
- On industry: Europe is becoming a museum of 20th-century greatness, where the only thing being manufactured at scale is new regulation.
The lesson
Strategic autonomy is not a luxury; it is a basic requirement of every country for survival.
A country, or a continent, must be able to do what is in its own interest, regardless of the scoffs of the international community.
Right or wrong, the consequences of your own actions are easier to bear than the consequences of being tied to an alliance that decides to dive while you still need to keep your head above the water to breathe.
If European countries do not untie the knots of EU and NATO quickly, and start following India’s policy of strategic autonomy, they will continue to be the mouse in the fable: a tragic footnote in a story written by the big brothers.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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- Europe’s deadly embrace vs India’s strategic autonomy - January 10, 2026
- Need for self-corrections by BJP on the roadmap to Viksit Bharat - January 1, 2026
- Right to return home alive: Rethinking our internal security policy - December 25, 2025
