It is never a good idea to take anything for granted in life. For decades, successive U.S. presidents cajoled other NATO member countries to take defense spending seriously but those pleas largely fell on deaf ears. Most of the countries decided that they had more important matters to worry about, and were happy to simply take shelter under America’s nuclear umbrella. Throughout that period, the U.S. spent hundreds of billions of dollars each year on its military, at times contributing close to 70 percent of NATO’s collective defense budget.

The requirement for each NATO member country to spend 2 percent of its GDP on defense was first introduced in 2006. That obligation was formalized by NATO heads of state in 2014. By that year, the U.S. was already exceeding the target, devoting 3.7 percent of its GDP to military expenditures. In 2024, the U.S. spent 3.38 percent of GDP on defense, far outperforming the majority of countries in the alliance. Canada (1.37 percent), Belgium (1.3 percent) and Spain (1.28 percent) came nowhere near meeting the 2 percent goal.

Canadians and Europeans took that lackadaisical approach to military spending because it was inconceivable to them that America would ever think about not abiding by Article 5 of the NATO Treaty if Europe were to come under attack by Russia or some other external adversary. Perhaps no one could also imagine that the U.S. would ever elect a president like Donald Trump. That is the point about taking nothing for granted in life.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 finally woke up Europe. But the alarm bells didn’t really go off until earlier this year when President Trump’s second term began. His horrendous treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office five months ago, and his initial refusal to blame Vladimir Putin for Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine, sent a clear message to the Europeans that there was a real possibility they might have to confront the Russian menace on their own.

To their immense credit, many of the current leaders of Europe are finally rising to the occasion. At the recent NATO summit in The Hague, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is a former Dutch prime minister, pushed alliance members to agree to spend 5 percent of their GDP on defense, something President Trump had been calling for. New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has led the charge in getting his country to start spending hundreds of billions of euros to build up its military. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is similarly taking measures to meaningfully boost British defense spending. They have all heeded calls that French President Emmanuel Macron has been making for several years about Europe taking responsibility for its own defense. He recognized Europe’s vulnerability much earlier than anyone on the continent.

It should be noted that there are some European NATO countries that have not been as negligent as the rest of the continent. Unsurprisingly, those praiseworthy members are either situated close to Russia, or were previously under the influence of the Soviet Union. Poland and Estonia are two of those nations. The Poles have consistently taken defense spending seriously, and currently devote over 4 percent of their GDP to it. Estonia is expected to allocate 5.4 percent of GDP to military expenditures next year.

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna was quoted in a recent article as saying: “I’m born in 1977, and we had no right to celebrate Christmas. Our national flag—it was the highest crime to have it at home. We have decided that we will never let it happen again, whatever the costs are.” People who have experienced oppression tend to understand the value of freedom much better than others, and will do whatever it takes to preserve it after they get a taste of it. As the Ukrainians are making it clear to everyone who is watching or listening, they will fight to the death to avoid falling under the thumb of Vladimir Putin.

Despite the newfound seriousness in Europe about defense spending, those of us who care deeply about this existential battle for liberty over tyranny shouldn’t celebrate just yet. There is already talk that some NATO countries plan to use accounting gimmicks to continue to evade responsibility. Even worse, before the NATO summit, Spain, the naughtiest freeloader, reportedly asked to be excluded from the new 5 percent spending target, claiming that it had other domestic priorities. Someone should remind the Spanish not to be this complacent. Being situated far away from Russia does not guarantee safety. If the arsonist in the Kremlin were to set Europe ablaze, Spain would be equally engulfed in the flames. It would become impossible for the Spanish to ship their olive oil, shoes and other marvelous products anywhere for sale.

I have argued recently that it doesn’t quite make sense for NATO to be spending trillions of dollars each year to militarize, at the expense of important social welfare programs. I have a lot of sympathy therefore for the Spanish position. But their laudable point of view fits only in an ideal world, which doesn’t exist today in light of all the geopolitical risks facing the free world. Idealism should always be balanced with pragmatism.

The foremost responsibility of presidents and prime ministers is to ensure that their nations are well equipped to defend themselves against external attacks. That entails having the foresight to anticipate risks. Given where Europe is today vis-à-vis the threat from Russia, it is quite clear that the continent’s past leaders failed to discharge their duties properly when it comes to national defense. History should judge them harshly on that score.