President Donald Trump had no use for Europe….
THAT was a change in American policy since World War II….
Now?
Although President Biden is well know among the European leaders….
And…
He’s approachable….
The announcement that the US has pushed France out of selling Australia nuclear powered subs has the European’s worried again…..
Of course the US has THOUSANDS of troops based in Europe and IS in lockstep with Europe economically, trade and politically….
But?
There is no doubt that America IS worried more and MORE about the Chinese ……
Does THAT mean that Europe should seek it’s own way with China like the French might want?
Or?
Does the Europeasns swallow hard and adjust to a world where China could also be knocking (down) their door step also ….
Until this week, the so-called “pivot to Asia” by the United States had been more of a threat than a reality for Europe. But that changed when the Biden administration announced a new defense alliance against China that has left Europe facing an implicit question:
Which side are you on?
It is a question that European leaders have studiously sought to avoid since former President Barack Obama first articulated that America should “pivot” resources and attention to Asia as part of its rivalry with China. European leaders hoped that the relationship between the two superpowers could remain stable and that Europe could balance its interests between the two.
Then the Trump administration sharply raised the temperature with China with tariffs and other trade barriers. And now the Biden administration on Wednesday announced an alliance between the United States, Britain and Australia that would help Australia deploy nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific — and, in doing so, also tore up a $66 billion deal for Australia to buy a French fleet of diesel-powered subs.
“Europeans want to defer the moment of truth, to not make a choice between the two,” said Thomas Gomart, director of the French Institute of International Relations, or IFRI. “The Biden administration, like the Trump one, is provoking the moment of choice.”
France was enraged. Yet if it was a humiliation — as well as the cancellation of a lucrative defense deal — it possibly did have a silver lining for France’s broader goals. President Emmanuel Macron of France has been Europe’s loudest proponent of “strategic autonomy,” the idea that Europe needs to retain a balanced approach to the United States and China….
…
The French embarrassment — the Americans also announced the submarine deal with little if any warning — came after the disastrous fall of Afghanistan. European allies were furious with the Biden administration, blaming the Americans for acting with little or no consultation and feeding Mr. Macron’s argument that the United States is no longer an entirely reliable security partner.
“The submarines and Afghanistan, it reinforces the French narrative that you can’t trust the Americans,” said Ulrich Speck of the German Marshall Fund in Berlin.
But whether France will succeed in turning this bilateral defeat into a way to promote strategic autonomy is doubtful, analysts suggest….
…
France may be pushing autonomy, but whether the rest of the European bloc has an appetite for it — and for creating greater distance from Washington — is uncertain.
“France could end up isolating itself,” said Mr. Speck of the German Marshall Fund, noting that in nearly every region where France has security concerns — including Russia, the Sahel and even the Indo-Pacific — the United States continues to be a critical partner….