Europe wants a next-generation fighter jet, but national pride and industrial rivalries are testing collaboration. Dassault’s struggle to lead the FCAS project reveals the challenges of building a truly united European defense.

For decades, Western Europe believed it had secured a lasting peace, convinced that war was a relic of the past. And yet, the unthinkable happened: war returned to Europe. But was war ever truly gone, or had Western Europe simply chosen to look away?