Paul Krugman has been in Brussels and suggests that Europe might be awakening as a Superpower. The basic dynamic for decades has been that the US was a Hyperpower, while China and the EU were "poles" around which global dynamics revolved. Russia, India and to a lesser degree countries like Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Turkey and Nigeria all put themselves forward as regional powers.
Trump's foreign policy is an abdication of 80 years of American leadership on global security. His "thinking" is that America is getting ripped off by insuring global security, whereas every other president since FDR has seen this as both an American value and something that accrues to the long term benefit of the US.
From 1945-1993, the world was seen as a bipolar world in international relations. The two poles were Washington and Moscow. For a while, theorists spoke of a unipolar world after the fall of the Soviet Union. After the US shit the bed in Iraq combined with the rise of China led many to suggest a new pole was emerging in Beijing. If, indeed, Europe rises as a pole, that has ramifications for the world. Hopefully, after Trump, the US and EU can go back to being allies, though they will be understandably wary of relying on us.
A unified Europe capable of sticking up for itself might actually be a good and healthy development in the near term, as a counterweight to Trump and Putin's malevolence.
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