With a Trump election victory becoming ever more possible, European leaders are considering something not pondered during the entirety of the Cold War - a "European" nuclear deterrent, according to an in-depth article by POLITICO.
According to the article, French President Macron has been privately sounding out European leaders on the idea of a "European" nuclear deterrent to defend against aggression from outside, especially Russia.
This effort comes as a victory by Euroskeptic Donald Trump in the US elections appears increasingly likely. Trump has veered from total support for NATO and demanding all countries pay their promised 2% of GDP or he won't defend them.
During the Cold War, the US and the USSR handled all nuclear diplomacy and deterrence, with the UK and France possessing small arsenals for independent use. Now that the US seems to be wavering from a once bipartisan commitment to the continent's defense, European countries are now "thinking the unthinkable" about defending themselves.
There are many roadblocks in Macron's plan. Le Pen and others on the right oppose the idea that France will be bound in its nuclear policy by the other EU members, and Germany and Poland do not want the US withdrawing or NATO ending on the idea that Europe can now take care of itself.
But nevertheless, a major shift appears to be happening in a continent once comfortable with letting others decide its fate after WWII.