From Liberal Order to Pragmatic Partnership: The Transatlantic Realignment

Gladden Pappin comments to Die Tagespost on the new transatlantic order

After more than two months of the new Trump administration, it is clear that a new form of the transatlantic relationship is coming into being. Why has this transformation come about, and where is it going? In recent years, European leaders have become accustomed to changes in American policy, and there is a strong tendency to assume that the so-called Trump phenomenon is a temporary one. This stance characterized European leaders’ attitude toward the first Trump administration. Trump appeared to be a disruptive, unusual figure, and the Biden presidency was welcomed as, somehow, a return to normal. At least on a diplomatic level, European leaders were more comfortable with the Biden administration; we can leave aside that those four years were still very disruptive, particularly given the return of war to the European theater.

The new Trump administration is taking a very different strategic approach to the significance of this moment in foreign policy and international relations. Rather than viewing the post–Cold War moment, and its attendant institutions of liberal internationalism, as the culmination of modern developments, the posture of the Trump administration is to consider American strategic interests to have been obscured in recent years. For the new administration, the moment is therefore not one of just another four-year difference or slight change of American foreign policy. Rather, it is an opportunity to reset America’s strategic priorities. As a part of this, the relationship of the United States and Europe will also be reconsidered.

But what is the framework for this reconsideration?