Europe did not choose the war with Iran, and most European governments still resist describing themselves as participants in it. But six months of military basing, missile-defense drawdowns, energy shocks, sanctions pressure and planning for possible migration crisis have made that distance harder to sustain.
The question is no longer whether the war matters to Europe; it is whether Europe can define what it wants from the conflict before — or Washington and Tehran — define Europe’s role for it. So far, Europe has mostly reacted: caught between an American administration it does not fully trust but cannot strategically dispense with, and an Iranian regime whose conduct and political order clash sharply with European governments’ stated values and security interests.
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