Our World in 2018

EUROPE’S FUTURE
“America First”
Wakes Up the EU
By Elmar Brok
US President Donald Trump has been
has already put the relationship
between Europe and the United States to the
test. Be it defense and security cooperation
within NATO, trade relations, cooperation
on global challenges like climate change,
or participation in bodies such as the G7 or
G20, there is hardly any area that has not
T
judgment. For over a century, the transatlantic
partnership has been central to US foreign
policy. At a time when the key challenges we
face – from terrorism to climate change to
mass migration – extend far beyond national
borders, such cooperation is more important
than ever.
Yet Trump’s “America First” approach,
together with his erratic leadership style, is
undermining the partnerships and mutual
agreements on which transatlantic – and,
indeed, global – cooperation has long been
based. Trump’s doctrine might please his core
constituents, but it fails to account for even
the most basic principles and mechanisms
of international politics.
For all his supposed “deal-making”
skills, Trump seems not to understand that
international agreements work only if they
compromise. As a result, he is taking actions
that jeopardize the cohesion and unity of the
West, while bringing about negative, lasting
change in the world order. Trump’s approach
to defense, trade, and climate change are
emblematic of this pattern.
Elmar Brok
Elmar Brok is
former Chairman
of the Committee
FA
in the European
Parliament and a
the CDU Party in
Germany.
A strong NATO is undoubtedly in the
interest of both the US and the European
Union. That is why Trump’s often-misleading
criticisms of the Alliance, which cast doubt on
his loyalty to it, were so dangerous. Though
Trump eventually endorsed Article 5 of the
North Atlantic Treaty – the mutual-defense
commitment that forms the core of NATO –
the damage was done.
As a result, the West is widely perceived
– including by world leaders – to be divided
and weak. Russian President Vladimir Putin,
for one, has taken this as a sign that he can
continue to challenge openly the European
and global security architecture.
In recent years, Putin has attempted to
facilitate his violations of the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of neighboring countries
by undermining the cohesion of the EU and
NATO, whether through disinformation
to Euroskeptic and fascist groups in Europe.
In this sense, Trump’s equivocation about
NATO has played directly into Putin’s hands.
The good news is that the EU seems to
understand that, if it can’t rely on the US, it
needs to take matters into its own hands,
by pursuing more integrated security and
defense policies.
Last June, EU leaders agreed to activate
the “Permanent Structured Cooperation”
(PESCO), which allows the bloc to implement
joint defense projects that strengthen its
overall defense capabilities.
We will take further concrete steps to
improve cooperation among European
armed forces. Collectively, European armies
have more soldiers than the US and spend
more on defense than Russia or China. But
that of the US.
A
defense cooperation among EU member
states costs up to €100 billion ($116 billion)
annually. Given this, increasing cooperation
could not be more important, though
European defensive capabilities will be a
complement to NATO, not a replacement.
Another policy that could undermine
transatlantic security – both directly, and
by further distancing the US from its allies
28 2018 | OUR WORLD