What is the price of the Italian rearmament?

This report critically examines the European economic and political strategy with a focus on military spending and its social, economic, and geopolitical consequences. The recent push to raise military spending to 5% of GDP represents a profound diversion of public resources from essential services such as healthcare, education, and social welfare toward armaments, largely financed through financial markets. Such a policy risks compromising peace and household well-being, exacerbating inequality, and deepening social instability, while failing to deliver a truly autonomous European defence capability due to reliance on foreign arms imports, particularly from the United States. The analysis highlights Europe’s strategic subordination to Washington, demonstrated by aggressive sanctions on Russia and the lack of sanctions on Israel, alongside the financing of conflicts via trade and arms transfers. This paper argues that this military-focused approach is unsustainable, socially harmful, and incompatible with long-term economic development. A reorientation is required: reducing dependence on foreign powers, prioritizing domestic investment, supporting wage growth, and financing technological and energy self-sufficiency. Only through such measures can Europe achieve sustainable development and social cohesion.