Opinion: Europeans need to 'cowboy up'

When the Persian king Cyrus the Great established his empire, he divided his holdings into territories or provinces called satrapies.

A satrapy was ruled by a satrap who served as a viceroy to the king, but had significant powers of his own.

In medieval Europe, satrapies eventually became referred to as vassal states. A vassal state had a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire.

Vassal states are generally called client states today. If King Cyrus returned to the present, he would immediately recognize Europe as a number of satrapies, with the emperor residing in Washington D.C. I don’t know if it was planned that way, but that’s how it evolved.

When World War II ended the only Western nation left standing was the United States. Because of perceived threats from the Soviet Union, Britain, France, the United States, Canada, and eight other western European countries established NATO in 1949. NATO was established to provide collective security against the Soviet Union, and was the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere.

When the world thinks about NATO, what they see in their mind’s eye, is “USA.”

This belief is bolstered by the fact that all 19 NATO Supreme Allied Commanders, beginning with Army Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and ending with current commander Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, are members of the U.S. military.

The belief is cemented by the fact that Europeans act like the defense of Europe is the responsibility of the United States.

The defense of Europe is not the sole responsibility of the United States, and it’s time we gave them the right to take the lead in their own defense.

Europe has a larger population and a larger Gross Domestic Product than the U.S., so why can’t they defend themselves?

We don’t have to leave NATO but we should want to leave Brussels, Belgium.

Our message to the Europeans should be, “You got it. We’ll be glad to back you up, but you guys are all grown up now and it’s time to cowboy up.”

The reason the European NATO members haven’t paid their dues is because we really haven’t wanted them to do that. It allowed us to be Cyrus the Great and allowed Europeans to be vassals, or clients or slaves, whichever term is easier to swallow.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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