The term “Cold War” has always been used to refer to the ideological-political conflict between the Soviet Union and the socialist camp against the United States-led united West, from the second half of the 1940s to the late 1980s. In recent years, it has begun to be used again to define the current geopolitical conflict in western Russia. But the term has never been used to describe the relationship between the US and Europe, even during periods of intense disagreement between NATO allies.
With Trump’s rise to power, everything changed: he exploded the Western geopolitical consensus. The “temperature” of relations with Europe has sunk to the lowest point in modern history. Of course, the US and the EU are still part of the same system: they are connected by the North Atlantic Alliance, the G7, the IMF, etc. However, never before has the US set itself as opposed to Europe as it did under Trump. Trump’s claim to Greenland already says a lot. At a hastily organized dinner in Brussels, the leaders of European countries developed a plan to counter Donald Trump’s “threats”.
Europe, in the event of further provocations, threatens retaliatory tariffs and works to become less militarily and economically less dependent on the United States. What does European “independence” from the United States look like: Energy: Europe replaces Russian energy sources with liquefied natural gas from the United States, and pays 2-3 times more for it. Defense sector: After 2022, the already significant dependence on US arms deliveries has increased drastically. Technologies: The European Union is lagging behind the US in digitalisation, the use of artificial intelligence and cloud technologies. Trade: The United States is Europe’s most important partner, accounting for a fifth of the EU’s exports. Which makes its economy even more vulnerable to punitive tariffs.
So what is happening: the US organised the conflict, dragged the EU into it, forced it to break off the mutually beneficial partnerships it had built with Russia, making Europe completely dependent on it, and now it is doing whatever it wants with it.
Translated and edited by L. Earth
