its harris but the to upgrade to the tops to these tried tensions, often loading visited trump at the more weight. and that is all for this alex, you want us to wait long for another bullet, another 45 minutes time, and they have to be held in maryland. boston the name is the whole bag saved. now. thank you so much for joining in. welcome to don't hold bad. a lot of people do that. it's all about saying it loud. as would have been nosy bay, like good everyone to king, to check out the award winning called called the german soldiers, a training for the worst case. an attack on may 2 territory. it's a threat. the western military line sees as very real with russia waging born

ukraine. countries that share a border with russia wonder we need to take more responsibility for europe's defense. is blocking the league. plus donald trump is president again, if he cuts us support for your security, this can create the real immediate issues. so why isn't germany leading europe's defense and who's going to do it instead? the, this is nature's biggest exercise in decades since the end of the cold war. it's called steadfast defender, a chance for all nate, 2 members to showcase their combines military might. the needles

$32.00 member countries abound by a promise of collective security to defend each other in case of an attack. and right now the line seized its biggest stretch ride on its doorstep from russia. this is russian territory cleaning garage right between poland and it's wayne. yeah. and then there is rushes goes allied that a rose danger is moving towards us at full speed. you must not to the rate we must face it. that's why many of these ne, to drills are taking place in europe's northeast. like here in norway, or here in this waiting. yeah, that's location for the finale of this whole exercise. and germany is leading it. the point is to practice a crucial process, moving troops and equipment from germany to the potential frontline quickly via

this week for this, for the with this location at the center of europe, germany is a major hub phone a tool and would play a central logistical role if russia attacked and they to member in recent years, jeremy has significantly boosted its defense spending. it's also europe's biggest provider of military ag ukraine by far. sounds like a leader. right. well, a lot of work needs to be done. this is so they can find an expert on german and european defense policy. so at this point, europe remains concerning the dependent on the united states military speaking. let's have a look at what that means. firstly to europe or lies on the us military

industry for much of that equipment that needs to by and then there are the us nuclear warhead, stationed in europe, plus around a $100000.00 us troops on the continent. around a 3rd of those troops are stationed in germany. guaranteeing europe security has been in the us interest for a long time. and for more than 75 years, the central structure to do so has been through the nature lines. under donald trump, he's been complaining the u. s. s. paying too much for your security and he's even threatening not to protect allies who don't meet nato's defense spending target. currently at 2 percent of g d p. that would call into question nato's core principle of collective defense. the u. s. currently has the biggest

military of all nato members. the u. s. also has the most sophisticated equipment and intelligence. there were several military capabilities that nature only has because the united states has it tends if the us withdraw. so it just kind of besides to be less involved in nature, this can create real, real, real, immediate issues. so why is europe and why is germany? so dependent on the us for it, security guess what? it has a lot to do with history. it may 1945 nazi germany surrendered. soon after world war 2 was over with more than 60000000 debt on the battlefield. and as

victims of german atrocities denazi's guilds, many millions of jews, people with disabilities, cynthia, and roma, homosexuals, and many other persecuted groups. germany was split into 4 zones of occupation controlled by the victorious allied powers. the united states, the united kingdom, france, and the soviet union. and berlin, right in the middle of the soviets sector, was also scheduled for the after the atrocities of world war 2. the allies initially decided germany should never again be trusted with arms or troops. so the german military was disbanded and the country demilitarized. instead, the allies stationed their own troops and their zones soon

to durham. these were established the federal republic of germany, a democracy aligned with west end, the german democratic republic, a communist dictatorship, dependent on the soviet union. but then tensions grew between the us and the soviet union. the border between the 2, germany's became the front line of the cold war re on them and was now on the agenda both in east and west germany. but it's the west will focus on because we're talking about the role of the us in 1955 with us backing west. germany established it's new military force meant for defense only. the idea of we aman germany was controversial at west germany up to its defense spending young man, we're now required to do military service. west

germany also joined nato. ensuring bonus valve was integrated into the western military alliance. in 1961, the ged yard, so east germany started building the berlin wall. and soon after tensions reached a peak, a face off between us and soviet tags on the streets of berlin. the fast forward a few decades and everything changed, the cold war ended. the berlin wall fell and the 2 journeys were re united. there was no feeling in the west and one there was the tequila need embrace in germany that now due political competition had ended and that military competition and military

confrontation was a thing of the past. many german, so no need for a strong military. and its neighbors didn't want that either. for germany, military power became a thing that was just not relevant anymore. and in fact, was seen quite negatively with defense spending caught the bonus valve fell into quite a dire state. it started making headlines like these a mass breakdown of tags and draining, not with machine guns, but broomsticks. then this happened, the rushes full scale invasion of ukraine. you know,

what else the doors do based on the display for these have the full and it was that size or turning point that set in motion major changes on the government announced of one of the specialists on a 100000000000 euros to get the bonus value up to scratch since then germany has modernize its arsenal. germany has spent billions on military ag ukraine, plus germany is setting up the military base and it's wayne ya to help strengthen nature's eastern slack. and germany is finally meeting nature's 2 percent defense spending target. that's 3 years after short, it's announced the type of vendor. it's clear that it will take more than

a little spring cleaning to fix the german military's problems. just in a good call. scott is opponents researcher on the german bonus math, nato and european defense. ringback she says germany has a lot more to do pertaining to all chrissy on engine magic modernization plans on a more people to serve. and there is a big question mark with regard to future funding and future financing of the german and forces. germany's establish tardies might agree on boosting defense capabilities. further that's no one really seems to know where to get the money from. plus defend spending is a divisive issue within germany. all that affects the way germany behaves on the european level. germany is, is, is, is still struggling with this role of the yeah, of, of liter um,

or kind of unifying force within, within europe. this whole thing about germany not seeing itself as a leader. that's a big part of its post for identity. and that's visible. now, in germany's approach to ukraine's defense, it's reluctant to lead the way, prefers to act as part of an alliance. the shortest hes warns against germany getting too involved in the war. he set the limits like refusing to send long range torres missile systems to ukraine. the germany under time for sauls has a very cautious reactive stance towards a towards the russian or an easy creed. and so it's blocking the league and needs to be pushed to be more ambitious and be to take more of the ski decisions. so from poland perspective, at least germany can be expected to take the lead. so who

will or other major players like friends and the u. k. don't look set for that role either. they're your only nuclear powers. have strong military's or big spenders on defense. and key supporters of ukraine, but friends has been mired and political crisis for months and with a u. k. now out of the u, it doesn't have a strong claim to leadership in europe. instead, it's other countries taking the most action right now. these are the countries that have seen the most dramatic increase in defense spending over the last 10 years. poland is tonia lot fia lithuania, and finish. what do they all have in common? right, they all share a border with russia. we are the countries.

now that's the case was rushing across the directions, highway one. so we took off the pressure on our folder and it shows poland has planning to spend 5 percent of gdp on defense this year. more than even the u. s. the baltic and norfolk states to have invested mass, a fee into the military. but the, it doesn't matter whether the baltic states increase the defense spending and they keep abilities by 200 percent or 3000. if you want this year signs of their countries and their economies doesn't match well, fonts in germany, for example. and so you need the big countries, you need prompts, you need germany, you need the united kingdom. germany has pledged to ramp up its military capabilities. but as we've seen, there are manufacturers holding it back, such as the country's history,

its reliance on the u. s. and the question of financing. all that makes it unlikely that germany will be leading europe's defense any time soon. i of the day or the raw materials of the future, lifting young cobalt and other rare herds. the essential for digitalization and the energy transition. everyone needs these materials. some have done, others have to import them. that's expensive, but more importantly it creates dependencies. now the you wants to achieve what seems impossible breaking free from its reliance on china and other countries. but can that even be done also on may.