The West prepares the European theatre for World War 3
The failure of Western military technology to produce the weaponry necessary for Nato to prevail in Ukraine and for the Israeli puppet to prevail against Iran has caused great alarm to the imperialist warmongers, led by the US but with active complicity of the European ruling classes.
This alarm was, for instance, eloquently expressed by General James E Rainey, a US 4-star general, who warned that the way wars were fought was changing at “hyperspeed” and America was failing to keep up. “Conceding that Russia is ‘ahead of us on UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] right now’, Rainey told The [New York] Times…’There’s technology that we absolutely know we need the next time we go to war, indisputably — to counter UAS [unmanned aircraft system] electronic warfare, we’ve got to get more and better UAVs at echelon level.’…
“’[Our deadline] is not 2040, 2035. The standard is the next time we go to war. We absolutely have to change things’ …
“’Now, our enemies? That’s the challenge. Whether you’re talking about synthetic biology or lethal swarms, bad actors are going to do bad-actor things. So our people who are working on countering that have to be dramatically better.’
“Despite China’s rapid technological advances and overhaul of its military in the past 20 years, Rainey believes the US will be able to sustain its cutting-edge advantage.
“He said: ‘I’d bet on America, our sense of urgency, the understanding.
“’Now, we could fumble that. It would be a mistake to rest on our laurels. It’s going to be a race akin to the space race or nuclear race — and we have to press on’” (Tom Newton Dunn, ‘America is falling behind in drones arms race, general says’, The Times, 7 August 2025).
America, whose ‘defence’ budget is already the highest in the world by far is planning to increase it by no less than 13% to $961bn annually, which amounts to some $2,871 per head of population, or $10,000 or so for the average family! In the interests of economy, however, US imperialism has insisted that Europe should increase its military spending to 5% of GDP (which is around 15 percent of the government’s national budget, in the UK), more than doubling the earlier target, which most countries did not reach, of 2%. The extravagant tariff threats made by US president Trump on behalf of US imperialism forced Europe and the UK into compliance, not that there is any lack of aggressive intent on the part of most of them anyway. The decision to comply with US demands was made at the 2025 Nato summit in the Hague on 24-25 June 2025. The money, of course, will come from higher taxes on the working and middle classes in particular as well as ever more drastic cuts to public services – i.e., swingeing cuts to general living standards. Jobs will be created in the armaments industries and their suppliers, a deadly military Keynesianism which, however, will simply result in an inflationary spiral that will do nothing to alleviate the lowering of living standards.
As before the first and second world wars, an increase in military spending can only sustain the economy for a brief period, and requires that the military products being manufactured are used. The greater the percentage of an industrial nation’s budget that is dedicated to the manufacture of arms, ever greater becomes the economic imperative to consume those military goods to keep the economy in motion. In other words: the more urgent becomes the ‘economic need’ of the imperialist economy and nations to wage war on an industrial scale. Given that we are talking about monopoly capitalist nations whose capital scours the whole globe, the wars required are increasingly global in scope.
And we are already seeing how the cash will be spent!
The Financial Times has worked out that “Europe’s weapons factories are expanding at three times the rate of peacetime, stretching over 7mn sq metres of new industrial development that represents rearmament on a historic scale” (Laura Dubois, David Djambazov in and Chris Cook, ‘Europe builds for war as arms factories expand at triple speed’,12 August 2025). Dubois and her fellow FT propagandists have no doubt that this unprecedented escalation …is motivated by a need for ‘defence’ against Russia – a defence that would be quite unnecessary if Nato were capable of desisting from renewing its attacks on Russia following its effective defeat in Ukraine.
Most of the funding for this expansion is coming from the public purse but nevertheless “Baiba Braže, the foreign minister of Latvia, told the FT the expansion was ‘a very positive and much needed development’. But Braže said it was ‘crucial’ the defence industry was ready to deliver on Nato’s growing spending and use taxpayers’ money ‘effectively’”. The taxpayers of course are not being consulted on how their money is used but would be most likely to consider that the mass production of commodities that can’t be eaten, worn or enjoyed in any conceivable way and which benefits them not at all, is not their idea of an effective use of their hard-earned money.
Maybe they will benefit from proposals in Europe to improve the roads. Britain might even be able to divert some of the funds to mending potholes – at least if they occur on the road to Russia! Apparently, according to Europe’s transport chief, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, “Europe’s roads, bridges and railways are unfit for moving tanks, troops and military supplies quickly across the continent in case of war with Russia…” and “If Nato’s tanks were called to respond to an invasion by Moscow’s forces across the EU’s eastern border, they would get stuck in tunnels, cause bridges to collapse…” So he is proposing to spend €17bn on overhauling the continent’s infrastructure to boost military mobility (see Barbara Moens and Henry Foy, ‘Europe’s roads and rail unfit for war with Russia, EU transport chief warns’, Financial Times, 29 July 2025).
Italy has for decades been wanting to build a bridge linking the mainland to Sicily but has never been able to afford to do so. Currently, however, Giorgia Meloni has been promoting the idea that such a bridge would help counter Russia’s increasing influence in Libya so she should be able to spend €13.5bn of Italy’s 5% of ‘military budget’ GDP on the project … Might as well try your luck!
More seriously, the port of Rotterdam is expanding its facilities: “Europe’s largest port is gearing up for a potential conflict with Russia by reserving space for ships carrying military supplies and planning where to divert cargo if war breaks out…
“Rotterdam’s measures are part of a wave of war preparations across the continent. The EU is drawing up a rearmament plan of up to €800bn as it tries to become more self-sufficient in defence in response to demands from US President Donald Trump, and to deter Russian aggression as Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine grinds into its fourth year.
“The Netherlands, along with its Nato allies, has pledged to boost defence spending to 5% of GDP. In May, the Dutch defence ministry announced that Rotterdam would have to provide space for handling multiple ships carrying military cargo at the request of Nato” (Andy Bounds. ‘Europe’s biggest port readies for potential war with Russia’, Financial Times, 8 July 2025).
It goes without saying that if the war for which the NATO powers are preparing does indeed break out, the theatre of the war is going to be Europe. All those towns and cities where all these new armaments industries are being based will be prime targets, such as the BAE facilities in Malmesbury (Lancashire) and Glascoed in Wales. Railway hubs and port cities are also very much at risk – all major cities and conurbations, in fact. And if in their desperation to win the imperialist forces attack historic sites and civilian centres of population, then we can expect retaliation in kind.
The lesson to be drawn from history, from World War I and II in particular, is that if the proletariat of Britain – its working masses – do not intervene to prevent the ruling class from launching this suicidal war, then we will pay a terrible price in loss of life and destruction of property. And further, that the Labour Party, social democracy and the Liberal-Labour alliance have always played their part in helping our ruling capitalist class in its drive toward war and slaughter, a product of the capitalists’ desire to hold together its entire rotten system of exploitation and wage slavery.
Ultimately World War 3 is inevitable unless the imperialist ruling classes of multi-billionaires are actually overthrown and dispossessed of their ill-gotten gains, with the proletariat putting itself in charge to secure the peace and wellbeing of all humanity. Should the war break out, the conditions of military discipline and repression will be major obstacles to overcome in building a really revolutionary proletarian organisation. While too many ‘on the left’ in Britain are pouring their efforts into the flimsy construction of yet another ‘mark 2 Labour Party’ (the Corbyn-Sultana project), what workers actually need is a mass and militant proletarian party dedicated to the destruction of capitalism and the building of socialism. Time is running out.