As Europe ramps up defense spending, its nations face a momentous decision about the future of their welfare states.

The challenge is best captured in Germany, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently told members of his conservative Christian Democratic Union party that “the welfare state as we know it today can no longer be financed by our economy – and that is why we have to change it.”

Germany’s labor minister, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party, summarily dismissed the chancellor’s comment with a single, blunt obscenity.

Why We Wrote This

The West’s renewed focus on defense has governments looking to offset spending – and social safety nets cost a lot of money. Can Europe retain its welfare systems in the face of competing demands?

But across Europe, welfare stat

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