Europe’s Race to Rearm: Industrial Transformation, Strategic Dependence, and the Next Phase of Defence Integration

Europe’s accelerated rearmament effort is reshaping the continent’s defence economy and the global balance of industrial power. After three decades of underinvestment following the end of the Cold War, the war in Ukraine has triggered an unprecedented expansion in defence spending across the European Union and NATO member states. What began as an emergency response to replenish depleted stocks has evolved into a structural realignment: Europe is rediscovering its role as a security producer rather than merely a beneficiary of American protection. Yet the speed and intensity of this rearmament have also exposed contradictions within Europe’s defence-industrial system — its fragmentation, dependency on U.S. suppliers, and the volatility of its newly resurgent equity markets.