Europe’s Iran Schizophrenia on Full Display Now | Victor Davis Hanson

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4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2026

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

Europe is deathly afraid of a nuclear Iran, but it does not want to do anything about it. What explains this European schizophrenia? President Donald Trump has a simple, straightforward request of America’s so‑called European allies: While the U.S. uses all of its assets to disarm a common threat to the West, could they send a few ships to help patrol the Strait of Hormuz? By and large, the answer has been a resounding “no.” That is notable, Victor Davis Hanson points out on today’s edition of Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words, considering it was not too long ago that the United States set aside its own diplomatic interests to help Britain in its mission retake the Falkland Islands from Argentina. (01:16) Bases and Allied Reluctance (03:06) Missile Defense and NATO Burden (04:21) Why Europe Hesitates (08:25) The Final Irony 👉 The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: http://dailysignal.com/donate 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest short videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1⁠ Also on Spotify: https://megaphone.link/THEDAILYSIGNAL9753340027 👉Want more VDH? Watch Victor’s weekly, hour-long podcast, “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” now! Subscribe to his YouTube channel, and enable notifications: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1 👉More exclusive content is available on Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com00:00 Europe and Iran Puzzle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Now, are all the traitors present? Let's get started, shall we?
0:04.5	From rags to riches. I'm so sick of this. Working like a dog and being treated worse.
0:09.1	Yorkshire to New York. Poor climbers, you and me.
0:12.4	A life dedicated to revenge. Let's make this an occasion to remember.
0:16.9	A woman of substance on Channel 4. Stream now.
0:19.8	What is it with the fickle Europeans?
0:22.1	I know that they have different interests than ours,
0:24.4	but we're both Western entities who think that we'd be more collaborative on Iran.
0:29.0	This gets back to the United States who pays an inordinate amount of the NATO budget,
0:33.5	and it keeps having to harken, hammer.
0:35.8	Please, please defend yourself. This is in your interest. Don't they have a fear of Iran? I mean, there was a joint missile defense project. Obama canceled it in that infamous quid pro quo hot mic conversation where he made a deal with the Russians to give him space so he could get reelected. He would dismantle the Czech and Polish project to have missile defense. That was primarily for protection of Europe.
0:56.6	The United States was going to pay a great deal of it.
0:58.6	Protection from Iran.
1:00.0	They are scared the death of a nuclear Iran, but they don't want to do anything about it.
1:05.1	What's going on?
1:05.9	What explains this European schizophrenia?
1:21.6	Music this European schizophrenia. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. What is it with the fickle Europeans?
1:23.6	I know that they have different interests than ours,
1:26.6	but we're both Western entities. You'd think that we'd be more collaborative on the effort to disarm and denuclearize
1:35.9	Iran. But a lot of strange things are happening. The traditional use of the Diego Garcia
1:43.8	critical airbase in the Indian Ocean run by the British,
1:47.5	but often leased to us and allowed us to have a very valuable base for our long-range bombers.
	...

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