South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has just returned from France, where his state visit produced a series of agreements across defence, security and defence industry. One notable outcome was an updated agreement on the protection of classified military information, alongside plans for greater military interoperability, strategic exercises and defence-industrial cooperation. French President Emmanuel Macron framed the relationship in unusually stark terms, stating that greater cooperation between France and South Korea could help the two countries avoid becoming “vassals of any major power”.

Europe’s deepest crisis is not simply found at its borders, but in the way Europe has learned to see itself. A civilization that distrusts its own history, symbols, and identity eventually loses the confidence necessary to assimilate newcomers, enforce its laws, and defend its frontiers.