“Contrary to most political presentation, military spending in Europe has been surging for well over a decade,” he says. Buying AmericanYet, Rogaly notes the contradiction at the heart of the spending surge: Europe has increasingly bought American. His book The Shadow World argues that defence spending is rarely a neutral response to threat, and more often the result of political manipulation and corruption. “Compared to other forms of public investment, military spending has a very weak relationship with growth and jobs,” he says. Resisting demands to rapidly militarise its economy … would allow Ireland to pursue genuine neutrality in its foreign policyThe spending surge is not a neutral response to a measured threat assessment, he argues.

Source: Irish Examiner February 21, 2026 01:00 UTC