Europe Is Not a Lost Cause |
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Is Europe a lost cause? Euro-bashing is clearly de rigueur within the current U.S. administration. For U.S. President Donald Trump and his team, Europe is woke, elitist, overly bureaucratic, hostile to tech innovation, and out of sync with the fast-paced and ruthless geopolitics of the new era. Trump’s latest National Security Strategy (NSS) warned Europeans against civilizational erasure, called for regime change in favor of illiberal parties, and promoted strategic stability with Russia. And now, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has essentially told Europe that it and the United States can remain allies, but it needs to convert to MAGA—as he did himself.
Yet, if anything, the last year demonstrated that Europe remains a hugely consequential player on the world stage, in part because of the values that Trump condemns. In a world marred by uncertainty and flux, the European Union’s rules- and values-based geoeconomic toolbox remains as relevant as ever. Taken collectively, European states have demonstrated a capacity to manage Trump and push back against Russia. The looming multipolar world order is not something that Europeans are cheering for, but they have no reason to despair either.
Is Europe a lost cause? Euro-bashing is clearly de rigueur within the current U.S. administration. For U.S. President Donald Trump and his team, Europe is woke, elitist, overly bureaucratic, hostile to tech innovation, and out of sync with the fast-paced and ruthless geopolitics of the new era. Trump’s latest National Security Strategy (NSS) warned Europeans against civilizational erasure, called for regime change in favor of illiberal parties, and promoted strategic stability with Russia. And now, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has essentially told Europe that it and the United States can remain allies, but it needs to convert to MAGA—as he did himself.
Yet, if anything, the last year demonstrated that Europe remains a hugely consequential player on the world stage, in part because of the values that Trump condemns. In a world marred by uncertainty and flux, the European Union’s rules- and values-based geoeconomic toolbox remains as relevant as ever. Taken collectively, European states have demonstrated a capacity to manage Trump and push back against Russia. The looming multipolar world order is not something that Europeans are cheering for, but they have no reason to despair either.
The EU provides daily examples of its power........