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Post being replied to

I think it was less free-riding, and more risk assessment by fontoknow

Until 2022, most of our Western European allies did not percieve a realistic threat of a land war on the continent.

Everybody reduced defense spending, including the US as a result of the collapse of the soviet union. We had 594 active navy ships in 1987. We currently have 299 deployable combat vessels. Similar declines have occured in the air force and the arm.

The creation of the euro zone, with the ECB restrictions on debt may have also contributed to the reduction of defense spending in some countries.