Civilisational erasure, but for whom?

Is Europe facing civilizational collapse? That appears to be the view of the Trump administration, as detailed in its National Security Strategy (NSS) roadmap published on December 5. The European Union occupies an important place in the document, which presents the EU as threatened by a whole range of problems that include irregular migration, economic stagnation and the disappearance of its values.

More than mere observation, the document – one of the few to formally explain Trump's doctrine – signals the Trump administration’s desire to assist the creation of a Europe more to its liking. Whether by asserting the need to “cultivate resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations,” or to “open European markets to U.S. goods and services,” the memo takes as a given that the administration should exert influence in Europe. Given Donald Trump's habit of flip-flopping and double-speak, such clarity is novel, to say the least.

For some observers, the document reflects Donald Trump's open hostility towards the European Union as it exists today, as well as his affection for the European far right, the only people – according to Trump – capable of defending Europe. This position has been quickly and widely echoed by Silicon Valley figures close to the administration.

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