The Long Council
Who was selected, and why
Should European countries develop independent defence capabilities as a backup to US security guarantees?
The central tension
The core analytical conflict is between alliance dependence (leveraging US capabilities while accepting strategic subordination) versus strategic autonomy (building independent capabilities at significant cost and potential alliance friction).
Selected members
Helmut Schmidt
Will argue: Europeans must maintain alliance credibility while building coordination mechanisms to avoid becoming passive dependents on unpredictable US domestic politics.
As West German Chancellor who managed NATO's dual-track decision and navigated US-European tensions during the Cold War, he has direct experience balancing alliance loyalty with European sovereignty concerns. · His NATO double-track decision (1979), conflicts with the Bundesbank over US monetary policy spillovers, and advocacy for European coordination within the Atlantic framework are extensively documented in federal archives and memoirs.
Charles de Gaulle
Will argue: European strategic autonomy is essential because no nation can permanently delegate its survival to another, regardless of alliance commitments.
The architect of French strategic autonomy who withdrew from NATO's integrated command while remaining in the alliance, developing independent nuclear capabilities precisely to avoid dependence on US security guarantees. · His withdrawal from NATO command (1966), development of force de frappe, and "Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals" vision are comprehensively documented in presidential archives and speeches.
Margaret Thatcher
Will argue: Independent capabilities are necessary but must complement, not compete with, the Atlantic alliance structure that guarantees European security.
Managed the tension between Atlanticism and European integration, defended British nuclear independence while championing the US-UK special relationship during renewed Cold War tensions. · Her Falklands decision (independent military action), nuclear modernization programs, and documented conflicts over European defense integration versus Atlantic alliance primacy are well-recorded.
Konrad Adenauer
Will argue: European defense capabilities must be built through institutional integration that strengthens rather than weakens transatlantic ties.
Founded West German security policy on the principle of Western integration while navigating the constraints of limited sovereignty, establishing the framework for European defense cooperation within NATO. · His Westintegration strategy, NATO membership negotiations, and advocacy for European Defense Community are documented in Federal Archives and diplomatic correspondence.
Sun Tzu
Will argue: Dependence on any single protector, however powerful, creates strategic vulnerability; wise states maintain multiple options while avoiding provocative signals to adversaries.
Provides the strategic framework for analyzing alliance dependencies, the management of great power relationships, and the principles of maintaining strategic flexibility without provoking adversaries. · His principles on strategic positioning, alliance management, and the dangers of permanent dependence on external power are directly applicable to contemporary alliance questions.
Considered but not selected
Churchill: — His wartime alliance management is less relevant to peacetime European defense coordination questions
LKY: — His small state strategy assumes US regional dominance rather than addressing what happens when that dominance becomes uncertain
FDR: — His alliance building was wartime-specific; post-war institutional arrangements were incomplete at his death