German foreign policy and security expert and member of the German parliament Roderich Kiesewetter issued another stark warning, this time regarding the latest US National Security Strategy (NSS) document. This is his statement:
„The National Security Strategy of the Trump Administration is here. Anyone who reads the document must understand: The United States has not only bid farewell to its role as the "world policeman," but the upheavals run much deeper.
The United States is no longer interested in Europe. Even more: This administration no longer views Europe - and specifically the EU - as a partner, but rather, in large part, as strategic ballast, as an economic adversary, and as a civilization in decline.
For Trump, it’s "States over Institutions." The EU as a force for order is seen as a hostile construct that stands in the way of U.S. interests. In the economic worldview of this administration, we are not an ally, but a competitor that must be made to pay up.
Trump thinks transactionally and with a deal-making mentality that contradicts Europe’s institutionalized and rules-based approach.
The (military) music is playing exclusively in the Indo-Pacific. The resources we need for protection (air defense, reconnaissance) are heading to Guam and Taiwan to contain China. Nothing will be left for us unless we build it ourselves.
The talk of Europe’s “civilizational decline” in the NSS is a slap in the face. They no longer entrust us with the future. Anyone who writes about partners in this way won’t defend them when it really counts.
What does that mean? The era of the “security guarantee” is over. Washington now treats us more like an annoying client state that’s supposed to pay tribute, or like an economic rival that must be kept in check.
I say this as a committed transatlanticist: Precisely because the United States sees us this way, we must finally stop being supplicants. We should stop blindly hoping and instead build up our own capabilities with maximum efficiency and develop smart power that makes us more independent and resilient.
Because the United States is pulling back, we must support Ukraine more strongly. If Ukraine falls, Russia will be at our border - and Washington won’t come to save us. Integrating Ukraine now as part of European defense and supporting it in such a way that it can push Russia back is part of this necessary efficiency. It will only cost us half of what a Russian success would.“
Comments
At this point, I think the best response to Trump is a Global Trade Embargo of the United States by as many democratic countries as possible. Let’s turn our back on him completely (Klingon-style) until the Americans figure out that, collectively, we can and will destroy them economically if they don’t remove the fascists in the White House.