https://www.politico.eu/article/emmanuel-macron-france-europe-us-elections-donald-trump
On November 7th, Hungary hosted a summit for European leaders to discuss pressing issues in the region. Trump’s victory in the U.S presidential election was a major topic, as leaders discussed what a second Trump term could mean for Europe considering Trump’s anti-NATO views and isolationist foreign policy. French president Emmanuel Macron was especially vocal on this issue, saying in his speech that European countries are “herbivores” and must become “omnivores” to defend themselves from the world’s “carnivores”. He believes that Europe has been too reliant on U.S funding and participation in NATO for defense matters. Through NATO, Europe essentially outsourced its defense, which allowed European countries to focus resources on other developments. However, now that they are at risk of losing this outside military protection, many European leaders are realizing the importance of maintaining their own independent defense.
Russia’s current aggressive actions pose a grave threat to the whole European region. However, the U.S has kept this threat to a minimum. Through NATO, the U.S. has funded and backed most of Europe’s defense efforts and given by far the most aid to Ukraine during its war with Russia. In the event that the U.S. stops providing this aid, Europe doesn’t currently have the resources and military power to fill the gap. Europe has been under the protection of the U.S since NATO was founded and the region has been mostly peaceful since the EU was founded. It has been many years since these countries have needed to consider their military power, with most of Europe focusing on soft power and taking a defensive approach—this is what Macron meant when he said that European countries are herbivores.
To become omnivores, as Macron says, European countries would need to increase their own military strength. This would be quite an undertaking as it would require countries to hugely increase defense spending to recruit, train, and equip new troops. Even if this would be financially possible for some countries, it would still take time—which Europe may not have, depending on how Trump deals with NATO in his early presidency. In the meantime, the EU may want to search for military support elsewhere and find other ways to support the war effort in Ukraine.
By considering the changes a new leader of a powerful country could bring, Macron and other European leaders are using the individual level of analysis. In his speech, Macron uses the terms ‘herbivores’ and ‘carnivores’ as analogies for countries that have soft power and take a defensive approach to conflict versus countries that exhibit hard power and take an offensive approach to conflict. These two groups resemble the distinction between defensive and offensive neorealism as well as the distinction between status quo and revisionist powers in classical realism. By suggesting European countries should become ‘omnivores’, Macron is urging Europe to move from a complete defensive approach to somewhere in the middle by increasing its hard power to ensure security.