France's President Charles de Gaulle in Canada in 1967. Both countries now espouse strategic autonomy.

Strategic autonomy is having a moment.

European leaders are invoking it to justify a historic defense buildup; India’s foreign ministry has made it the organizing principle of a policy that buys Russian oil while courting American investment; and Canada is treating it as a “core objective.”

Originally published on theconversation.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.