> If one studies the history of European countries you'll find bending over is the outlier.

Before or after 1945?

Before 1945(and especially before 1918), I agree. After 1945, the experiences of losing a generation in the crucibles of WWI and WWII seems to have broken the European martial spirit. Europe has done a lot of bending over since 1945 (decolonization was not because of some moral enlightenment, but mainly because they did not have the resources to continue with it). See Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. See Suez Canal. See Bosnia where Europe could not intervene to stop a genocide in its own backyard.