A changing transatlantic relationship
As has been evident the last week in the peace negotiations and settlement in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas, it is clear that the Europeans had no power, meant nothing substantial and did not contribute to anything except words and peculiar ideas. The same is the case in Ukraine where the Europeans seem delusional and start most negotiations with demanding that Crimea is returned to Ukraine. As Trump shows his global power and determination, once the Middle East is done, he will turn his attention to Ukraine. He is running out of patience with Russia as there has been no progress since Putin and Trump met in Alaska. The Europeans have in effect weakened the transatlantic relationship by taking many absurd positions related to democracy, free speech and immigration. It seems like the past is not coming back and the U.S. is drifting further away from Europe and its values.
As World War II raged in Europe in the early 1940s, Stefan Zweig’s memoir “The World of Yesterday: Memoirs of a European” was published. Zweig, full of sorrow, describes the rupture of time that brought the old Europe to an end in the fury of two terrible world wars. Are Europeans today undergoing another such rupture? They seem to have lost their way. Are we once again witnessing the disappearance of the old order, the only one that most of us have ever known? The old order peace, security, and prosperity, only to Western Europe, initially, but then to the rest of the European continent after 1989. That happy time now increasingly looks like The World of Yesterday 2.0. The Europeans only have themselves to blame.
The Europeans have been pushing NATO eastwards without any filter or sensitivity towards Russia and they have continued destroying their own unique cultures by importing millions of Muslims to an extent that eventually Islam will become the majority religion in many European countries. This makes no sense at all, but in most European countries this trend continues. Maybe they think there are replicating the United States of America multi-cultures, but the U.S. is still a Christian nation primarily run by White people. The continents are drifting further apart culturally and ideologically.
As it relates to Russia, Putin sees an opportunity to reshape the world order in his favor. Europe is the first port of call for a revisionist strategy, because it is militarily weak and indecisive, and it can no longer count fully on America. Finally, Europe has realized that they have to pay more in defense costs, they have to sort out their energy sourcing and they have to cooperate more and better with other nations. They have a tendency to be arrogant with a neo-colonial mindset, and this will cost them dearly. Trump has no interest in this, but wants fair trade, he wants Europe to pay their fair share of NATO and he wants them to buy U.S. energy products. The era when Europe is sucking out resources of the rest of the world is over and they know it, but they are too weak to change course.
The world-historic success of the transatlantic world rested on the military protection that America provided and by Europe getting unfair advantages. But owing to the support from strong alliances (NATO for security, the European Union for the economy, democracy, and law), Western Europe, during the four decades of the Cold War, became a kind of spoiled protectorate. In the process, it lost, or perhaps forgot, its identity and sovereignty.
Europeans lived well and safely in the world of yesterday, but they neglected the duties that arose with their growing prosperity. Also, they lived on others, still taking advantage of poor countries, exploiting Africa and having unfair trade deals. Everything changed when Trump arrived, declaring, in effect, “That’s it; no more taking advantage and exploiting the rest of the world and the U.S.” The subsequent plunge from a state of cozy comfort into the icy reality of power politics happened so fast that the weak Europeans could not adapt. It all came as quite a shock for them.
But another question has come into sharper focus under Trump’s second presidency: What will become of America? Though it remains the preeminent global power, Trump is primarily focused on domestic issues and rebuilding the American democracy. Also, he wants to build a legacy as a peacemaker not only in the Middle East, but globally by using the peace by strength formula.
Like Zweig, the impression is that the sun is setting on Europe. Something is definitely coming to an end. Europe might have been a bastion of freedom, democracy, and security for some, but it was also unfair, colonial and imperialistic. Today, Europe is confused and has destroyed its own identity at a time when the U.S. is moving on in a different direction and it truly feels like the transatlantic special relationship is something in the past, something from the world of yesterday.