What Hitler and Stalin brought to the party was resolute toughness. You had pioneer youth organizations, paramilitary organizations, contempt for civilized softness.
I don't see any of that in Europe today. They have the same political drive toward unrepresentative, totalitarian regimes that microregulate behavior, but without the drive to arm themselves or to fight.
Maybe that could change. But meantime, most of the European military are a bunch of blow-dried hippies who would be useless in a fight. The only exceptions are the British and, to a certain extent, the French. And, of course, such Eastern European nations as the Poles, who, however, don't fit in very comfortably with the Schroeder/Chirac crowd.
Actually if you do a search on google, Poland EU, you'll find a host of articles where they are kissing up to France and Germany. This probably has a lot to do with the reason they are leaving Iraq.
They don't have to anymore. They can just subvert. Unless they're stopped.
I don't think the psyche of Chirac and his minions is to have military power - they just want to weaken the USA and Russia. They will attempt to do it economically.
i.e. oil, food production, raw materials and technology.
It won't work in the long term - Europe doesn't have the cohones. The current overpriced EURO against the dollar is just a glimpse of what Chirac wants, but it's temporary.
Only thing we have to fear is our own complacency.