A charge for Europe inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s “If—”
Chris Kremidas-Courtney
If you can keep your nerve when an aggressive Russia
tests your borders and your nerve,
and still remember that deterrence is strongest
when its calm and resolute
If you can stand firm when force seeks to revise history,
without letting history turn you into what you oppose,
knowing that restraint is not weakness
but discipline under strain
If you can prepare for a world
where American leadership is no longer predictable,
where a president treats alliances as expendable
and commitments as conditional
If you can assume responsibility
without resentment or nostalgia,
accepting that being a leader in geopolitics
means acting even when reassurance does not arrive
If you can defend democracy
when trust is thin and applause is rare,
and invest in security
without surrendering to fear
If you can speak honestly to your citizens
about sacrifice, readiness, and risk,
instead of promising that danger can be managed
without cost
If you can stay united
when pressure seeks to divide you,
when crisis tempts capitals
to forget the strength of standing together
If you can build strength urgently
in resilience, defence, and trust
while others chase spectacle or dominance
If you can resist both coercion from the East
and abandonment from the West,
refusing the lie that Europe must choose
between dependence and submission
If you can protect truth
when distortion feels normal,
and preserve pluralism
when the call of tribes tempt division
If you can remember why Europe was built:
not for comfort or domination,
but so peace would endure
Then you will not merely endure
an aggressive Russia,
looming China,
or erratic America
You will have learned to stand
Not as an empire.
Nor as a client.
But as a Union strong enough
to defend itself
without losing its soul
