The civilizational suicide of the United States

STOCKHOLM — Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave a succinct description of the Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy (NSS), calling it “broadly consistent with our vision.” You’re right. The NSS does not criticize Russia in the slightest, neither for its increasingly authoritarian domestic policies nor for its blatant military aggression against Ukraine. Instead, Europe – America’s old democratic friend and ally – is being treated particularly poorly.

It’s true that when the first Trump administration issued its NSS in 2017, there was a lot of talk about national sovereignty trumping everything else. However, that document still recognized the value of American allies and stated: “The United States and Europe will work together to counter Russian subversion and aggression.” Furthermore, these efforts fit into a broader strategy of “great power competition” in which China plays a prominent role.

Since then, Russia has launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and China’s numbers have only grown. But the second Trump administration bows to Russia, criticizes the Europeans and describes the threat from China only in economic terms. It appears that competition between major powers has diminished Comradeship of powers. The US now says it is more interested in “stability,” which it says can be achieved through cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and through a “G2” with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The implicit message is that the major powers think alike: each wants its own sphere of influence and values ​​power over principles.

Global health workers bolster U.S. security

As many commentators have noted, the NSS represents one radical break with previous US policies and doctrines. He foresees a shift back to the Western Hemisphere and notes that on almost all issues, utility will trump principles. The Middle East, for example, is primarily considered an investment destination. Politics is complicated, but business is simple.

Nevertheless, the loud condemnation of Europe is striking, particularly because of the flaws in the underlying argument. The NSS claims that “in a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will have a non-European majority” and that Europe is doomed to “civilizational extinction“(Language that many attribute to Vice President JD Vance) cannot be a reliable ally. But that is simply wrong. There is not a single European country where ‘non-Europeans’ will be in the majority any time soon. This also includes the country with the highest proportion of Muslims: Russia.

Such vile rhetoric comes directly from European extremists. Amazingly, it forms the basis for how the United States will treat its closest allies. The Trump administration is now ready to interfere in the domestic politics of European countries in order to promote “patriotic” forces, that is, those who spread the same racist garbage. Not even Russia has made its intention to interfere in European democratic processes so clear.

The transatlantic break is complete

It remains to be seen what will come of it. An alliance with Trump is not exactly a winning electoral strategy, so U.S. efforts to interfere in Europe could prove as unsuccessful as Russia’s. However, they could be much more damaging given how much transatlantic relations have already deteriorated.

Without a doubt, we Europeans have a lot of problems. We urgently need to reactivate our entrepreneurial and competitive spirit, strengthen our defenses and expand our successful integration project. Managing migration is certainly a challenge, just as it is for the United States.

In general, however, we are successful partnershipsand we must not lose sight of that. Assassinations and political violence are extremely rare here. We don’t have politicized mobs storming our parliaments. Our democracies remain open and vibrant, and most of them are at the top of the world’s press freedom charts.

Our incarcerated population is one-fifth that of the United States, and our murder rates are a small fraction of the United States. We don’t have a huge trade deficit with the rest of the world. Our healthcare systems offer better outcomes and longer lives, and EU Member States have better educated populations.

There is certainly no danger of us “extincting out” as the NSS absurdly claims. Few places on earth offer one better quality of life for a larger part of the population than Europe. Instead of trying to appease Trump’s America, we must stand firm, recommit to our own values, and hope that the ideological confusion on the other side of the Atlantic soon passes. Without this, we will not be the ones committing civilizational suicide.