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Can Europe stand without the US?

NPR | By Paddy Hirsch,
Adrian Ma, Cooper Katz McKim, Kate Concannon
Published March 26, 2025 at 11:05 AM EDT
A convoy of Bundeswehr vehicles and heavily armed soldiers drives along a road in the north of Hanover.
Julian Stratenschulte
/
Getty Images
A convoy of Bundeswehr vehicles and heavily armed soldiers drives along a road in the north of Hanover.

As relations between the US and Europe continue to sour, European countries are working to lower their reliance on the U.S. for weapons and security. Today on the show, we ask what Europe needs to do to become independent militarily and what potential barriers could stand in the way.

Related episodes:
Europe's NATO members take an economic hit (Apple / Spotify)
Two Indicators: Economics of the defense industry (Apple / Spotify)

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

Copyright 2025 NPR

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NPR Podcasts
Paddy Hirsch
Adrian Ma
Adrian Ma covers work, money and other "business-ish" for The Indicator from Planet Money, the daily economics podcast from NPR.
Cooper Katz McKim
Cooper Katz McKim is an Associate Producer for The Indicator from Planet Money.
Kate Concannon
Kate Concannon is the Supervising Senior Editor at The Indicator from Planet Money. She leads this small, collaborative team of hosts, reporters and producers in making sense of crucial, but often complex and confusing, economic news in just 10 minutes a day.
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