The Trump administration seems to have acknowledged the policies it has inherited from previous administrations when formulating its Europe policy, including reaffirming its commitment to the protection of its European allies. Yet some in-depth changes must not be overlooked and could have negative impacts on the rest of the world as well, Liu Deshou, deputy head of the Diplomacy Research Office, Institute of American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Science, wrote on news portal
haiwainet.com.
Europe is already mired in a combination of the European debt crisis, the migrant crisis and Brexit. By pressuring its NATO allies to increase its contribution to two percent of national GDP, the Trump administration is adding to European countries’ burdens, Liu said.
European integration has always had clear backing from US governments. But by saying the EU is taking advantage of the US and that the UK should follow a hard Brexit path, US President Donald Trump is considered by many to be diverging from his nation's traditional support of European integration, Liu noted. And while the EU has been aspiring to gain a greater say in the international arena, the Trump administration does not seem to care; it breached international deals – including the Paris Climate Change Deal and the Iran nuclear deal – initiated or brokered by the EU. This will sow differences between the two.
Finally the Trump administration talks about “defending the West,” meaning to erect a wall between the West and the non-West, Liu argued. It is turning the relationships between major countries from being cooperation-centered to being one of strategic competition. This will have great adverse impacts on Europe, the US and the world.
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