We are entering a post-American world, accelerated by President Donald Trump’s disinterest in multilateralism. The post-Cold War era of American hyperpower is giving way to increased interstate competition and the formation of regional blocs.
Donald Trump hasn’t ushered in a post-American world yet. But he is accelerating the demise of a benign hegemony that has made the world more peaceful and more prosperous with his policy of “America first”. Read more “Trump Accelerates Demise of American World Order”
The European Union and Japan have finalized a trade agreement that would create the world’s largest open economic zone when it comes into effect in 2019.
The deal cuts tariffs, harmonizes product regulations and liberalizes public procurement for a market of 600 million people.
The EU and Japan account for 28 percent of the world’s economic output.
In a joint statement, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe said the deal demonstrates their commitment “to keeping the world economy working on the basis of free, open and fair markets with clear and transparent rules.” Read more “Europe and Japan Finalize Trade Deal”
European countries have agreed to deepen defense cooperation outside NATO.
The so-called Permanent Structured Cooperation involves 23 of the EU’s 28 member states.
Ireland and Portugal are expected to join later. Denmark, Malta and the United Kingdom will probably stay out.
All EU countries in Central and Eastern Europe have signed up, despite their wariness of weakening defense ties with the United States. Read more “EU Countries Deepen Defense Cooperation Outside NATO”
In another sign that the world isn’t waiting for the United States, eleven countries in Asia and Latin America have announced their intention to keep the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) alive.
One of Donald Trump’s first acts as president was to withdraw from the trade pact.
Japan and Mexico stepped into America’s place to salvage it.
Both have also intensified their trade negotiations with the EU, which itself is rushing to defend globalization from a suddenly protectionist America. Read more “World Not Waiting for America: Pacific Nations Continue Trade Deal”
European allies warned Donald Trump he could drive them into the arms of China and Russia if he decertified the Iran nuclear deal — and that is exactly what’s happening.
In a rare joint statement, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom reiterate their commitment to the 2015 agreement:
The nuclear deal was the culmination of thirteen years of diplomacy and was a major step toward ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program is not diverted for military purposes.
European foreign-policy coordinator Federica Mogherini is even more adamant:
The deal has prevented, continues to prevent and will continue to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Trump nevertheless refuses to confirm Iran’s compliance and has threatened to withdraw from the agreement unless it is somehow improved.
China and Russia, the other two signatories, have made common cause with the Europeans, virtually isolating the United States. Only Israel and the Arab Gulf states support Trump. Read more “Trump Drives European Allies into Arms of China and Russia”
American allies are coping with Donald Trump’s disruptive presidency in similar ways, a collection of essays in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs magazine reveals:
I argued here last month that Donald Trump was inadvertently breathing new life into the EU — whose demise he has publicly wished for — by driving France and Germany closer together.
Now Politico reports that Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel have agreed to:
At a joint news conference, Merkel also left the door open to creating a eurozone finance minister and harmonizing French and German tax rates.
“It’s complicated, but it could boost the internal market,” she said. Read more “Europe Rises to the Challenge Posed by Trump”
European and Japanese leaders have announced a landmark trade agreement on the eve of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, where America’s president, Donald Trump, is expected to press his case for protectionism.
The treaty has yet to be finalized. A summit in Brussels was hastily arranged to “send a strong signal,” as the EU’s trade commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, put it earlier this week.
“We believe we should not build walls or raise protectionism,” she said. Read more “Europe, Japan Send “Strong Signal” with Trade Deal”
Donald Trump promised to make America great again, but that’s not what it looks like to the rest of the world.
The Pew Research Center found that only 22 percent of people around the world trust the American president.
The figures are worse in Western Europe, traditionally home to America’s closest allies. Fewer than one in five Europeans have confidence in American leadership anymore.
This matters. A lack of faith in Trump could have costly ramifications for the United States in economic and national-security terms. Read more “Little Wonder the World Doesn’t Trust Trump”
European leaders are preparing for a showdown on trade when they meet Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Hamburg next month.
“Whoever believes that the world’s problems can be solved by isolationism and protectionism is mistaken,” Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, told her parliament on Thursday.
French president Emmanuel Macron chimed in: “If free trade is questioned by a member state then we need to address this.”
He added that he hopes “others will see reason” on issues like climate change and terrorism, which require multilateral cooperation.
Europe and the United States account for half the world’s economic output and a third of its trade. Read more “In Era of Trump, Europeans Become Free Traders”
