I expect there is going to be a reckoning at some point. Europeans have not experienced anything comparable to what's coming in over half a century. People are still acting smug because they don't understand what's coming in the near future. However, we're already seeing a lot of political unrest in Europe because material conditions are rapidly eroding. Eventually, it's going to affect even the smug mainstream liberals.

I completely agree that all of this could've been avoided, but I'd argue this is precisely why US needed this proxy war to happen. Europe was becoming integrated with Russia and China economically, and that necessarily meant that it would drift away from US politically as well. This was completely unacceptable from US perspective, and the war ensured that Europe is going to be dependent on US in the foreseeable future.

Of course, as BRICS becomes increasingly more dominant, it's entirely possible that at least some European countries will jump ship.