One of the more childishly amusing consequences of Donald Trump’s election has been the spectacle of watching European political leaders try to reconcile their previously expressed distaste for Trump with his re-emergence as the most powerful man on earth The political reality of

One of the more childishly amusing consequences of Donald Trump’s election has been the spectacle of watching European political leaders try to reconcile their previously expressed distaste for Trump with his re-emergence as the most powerful person on earth This political reality of the characters.

British Foreign Secretary David Lamy should win the gold medal in the 180-degree backflip event. He congratulated Trump and said he looked forward to finding "common ground" with the recently re-elected president. The day after the election, he gleefully told a BBC reporter: "I feel in my bones that Trump could be elected president."

Perhaps the same man told the ambitious young Labor Party during Trump's first term Party member, the then and future president was "a misogynistic sociopath with neo-Nazi sympathies" and was "self-deceptive, dishonest, xenophobic and narcissistic."

Well, times have changed. Regardless, apparently all is forgiven.

Europe’s distaste for Trump is partly aesthetic, as can be seen in the language Lamy no longer uses. But there are substantive reasons for this aversion. Although they try their best to suppress their true thoughts, they know that this time the situation is more serious than in 2017.

In fact, the transatlantic friendship is almost certain to undergo a serious and lasting rupture in the next four years, a rupture that will be irreversible for an alliance that has been the cornerstone of the progress of world civilization for a century, despite all its discord tendencies. damage.

In at least three major ways, a second Trump administration will plunge U.S. relations with Europe into collapse.

First is the war in Ukraine. European leaders now realize that U.S. aid to Kiev will cease next year and that some form of peace agreement will be reached; they are convinced that this will make Russia stronger and bolder.

▲ This is the European Parliament voting scene taken in Strasbourg, France on November 27. On the 27th, the European Parliament voted in Strasbourg, France, to approve the list of members of the new European Commission (European Commission) with von der Leyen as chairman. (Xinhua News Agency) Secondly, there is trade. The already fragile European economy may be hit by tariffs on exports to the United States. A broader global economic conflict threatens the precarious stability of the European continent.

The third is a host of global tensions, all of which are likely to worsen: including climate change, where Trump’s fossil fuel-led growth strategy is a betrayal to climate fanatics in Europe; including the Middle East, where staunch support for Israel Washington will create domestic and international tensions for Europeans sympathetic to Palestine; including China, the United States' increased efforts to decouple the West from Beijing's economy will deprive Europeans of key export markets.

There is no doubt that Trump’s style of conduct will deepen divisions, but it is undeniable that the Europeans are essentially to blame for their predicament.

On Ukraine, the EU and UK support the Biden administration’s increasingly irresponsible policy of what some wise people in Europe call “self-deterrence”: providing Ukraine with enough weapons to sustain the war, but not enough to have a Any chance of winning. European governments are gradually realizing how deeply flawed this approach is. Last week, some people in the public and private sectors told me they now don’t know whether to worry about the prospect of Vladimir Putin becoming more powerful during four years of Trump or President Joe Biden’s administration Escalating action was taken in the final days, leading to all-out war in the remaining two months.

On broader questions about their own security within NATO, Europeans are finally admitting that their days of free riding on US military spending are over.

In terms of trade, Europe pursues its own protectionism in many areas. Its regulatory measures have also inhibited innovation and vitality, severely restricted economic performance, and caused the EU to lag increasingly behind the United States. Trade wars rarely produce good economic outcomes for anyone.But Europe is much less able to cope with these outcomes than the rest of the world.

In addition to a host of global problems, Europe has created its own mess. It is hell-bent on reducing its carbon footprint at the expense of growth, but has done little to “save the planet” from warming while severely weakening the European economy. In the Middle East, support for the Palestinian cause has led to growing European hostility toward Israel.

Given the rise of the Indo-Pacific, the diminished importance of the transatlantic relationship is inevitable. This is also a shame, because this relationship has proven to be very beneficial to the world for more than a century. If these relationships are damaged, the United States can weather it. Whether Europe can do that, I don’t know.

This article was published on the website of the Wall Street Journal in the United States on November 25. The original title was "The United States and Europe May Part Ways", and the author was Gerald Baker.

Source: Reference news