Madrid has joined a chorus in Europe calling for a standalone force amid the growing rift with the US Spain has become the latest European nation to call for the EU to build its own army as opposed to relying on the NATO framework, citing a growing rift with the US. The idea itself, however, has split European NATO members, with many still viewing the US-led military bloc as a preferable defense mechanism. Whatever the outcome of those debates, most NATO nations are engaged in an accelerated militarization campaign costing hundreds of billions of dollars in the long run, citing an alleged Russian “threat.” EU army: origins story The idea of a joint European army harks back to the early days of the Cold War, when in the early 1950s, France pushed for the European Defense Community, which would have brought France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg into a common 100,000-strong European force. The plan received US backing.…