You're right, but this has been the explicit design of US foreign policy since WW2: we'll protect you, you rebuild as a bastion of western capitalism. It was a

You're right, but this has been the explicit design of US foreign policy since WW2: we'll protect you, you rebuild as a bastion of western capitalism. It was all carrot. When the EU tried to set up a small standing armed force in the 90s to serve as an umbrella org in the event of war, the US put pressure on Germany and France not to support it, and it failed. Now you're seeing the stick. And NATO partners should absolutely up their spending on domestic defense industries. German tanks, Swedish anti-air, Ukrainian drones... you've got more than enough indigenous industry already to not feed the US with your defense dollars.