Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby’s recent social media posts dismissed the very idea of a “‘middle powers’ strategy” as a costly distraction. Their alliance with the United States made Gulf middle powers such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates targets of Iranian attacks. Colby’s disparagement of middle-power strategy was largely directed at Canada and Europe, not at those middle powers in the non-Western world. Most of the time, European middle powers invite global south actors to join or endorse frameworks or platforms they have already developed. Before this norm- and law-informed middle-power multilateralism can be reached, however, European middle powers must adopt a new political psychology.