Shortly around the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, a furious spat between US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron over creating a European army saw more cracks surface in the US-EU partnership. As tensions seemed to be petering out, Macron repeated the proposal in his speech at the Bundestag while visiting Germany on Sunday, saying that "Europe needs to get stronger," which has been interpreted by the media as a potshot at Trump.
Differences between the US and Europe on defense security is only a part of the contradictions between the two sides. After Trump took office, US foreign policy has been riding the wave of "America First" rhetoric, which diverges from its traditional Europe policy in trade, security, diplomacy and other fields to varying degrees. Trump ignored European interests, disregarded persuasion and even showed disdain for the continent, which posed a challenge to European countries' foreign policy and affected US-EU ties.
A major reason for the change in US-EU relations is the irreconcilable differences between the two sides concerning world view and the perception of power. The National Security Strategy report issued by the White House at the end of 2017 has revealed that the US tends to take a negative view of the global situation, believing that the world is facing increasingly intense political, economic and military competition as a result of great power rivalry and geopolitical maneuvering. From this point of view, the US thinks that Europe has become the pitch for a geopolitical game, and the West, with the US and Europe in the lead, is confronting the greatest threat since the end of the Cold War.
Whereas Europe holds a completely different perception, believing that global economic growth, population mobility and scientific and technological progress are driving the world. Through reforms and sustained participation in globalization, Europe can survive the crisis and revive prosperity.
Besides, the US and Europe are also different in the way they perceive themselves and exert their strength. The US is still confident of its political, economic, military and technological advantages, as well as its self-perceived unbeatable hard power. Europe, on the other hand, thinks it is strong in soft power and can play a regulatory role on the international stage and in regional affairs.
The difference in strengths between the allies results in different approaches to exerting power. The Trump administration is trying to abandon multilateralism, emphasize its own advantages and size and ratchet up pressure on allies and rivals so as to pursue benefits with its hard power. On the other hand, Europe emphasizes "moral power" and "regulatory power" in its sense of "identity." Furthermore, with its strength in economy and trade, the continent insists that rule-based international system and multilateralism are most conducive to safeguarding the interests of Europe.
Europe has taken an expedient approach to the US policy shift - cutting in two perspectives, which will aggravate the alienation between the two sides.
The first refers to separating the close security cooperation from other areas. The Trump administration, despite its complaints about Europe, has actually increased its security spending in the continent and surrounding areas and strengthened security ties. But in other areas such as trade, the Iranian nuclear agreement and climate change, Europe has been assertive to confront the US or even take countermeasures. In addition, Europe's call for "strategic autonomy" in security and the progress in European Defense Fund and permanent structural cooperation also indicate that it has recognized the need for autonomy and independence in security assurance.
The second "cutting" points to splitting the Trump administration from the US political landscape. Europe strives to engage in dialogues with the American political establishment and people, shape US policy toward Europe and wait for the end of the Trump era.
Currently US-EU ties are on the wane. The former "four in one" partnership of security, economy, value and international order has dwindled into an alliance with security as the main prop. Though still highly dependent on the US for security, Europe is beginning to form an intertwined and competitive relationship with Washington in other areas. As the leading force of the Western international order, the evolution and development of US-EU relations will not only affect the two sides, but have an overall structural impact on the international system.
The author is an assistant research fellow with Institute of American Studies at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn
