European Nations Rethinking Security Post-Trump Triumph, Fears Old World Order Set To Crumble
The surprising victory of controversial presidential candidate Donald Trump is now raising fears that the allegiances made between the United States and Europe following World War II, which were the building blocks to maintaining peace, will be upended.
Europe’s most populist nation, Germany, has found itself blanketed by this allegiance as it remains home to 47,000 U.S. troops. Chancellor Angela Merkel forged a strong bond with President Obama, and the two became instrumental in tackling a number of issues, including the crisis in the Ukraine and the fight against global warming.
The Washington Post comments on these very real fears that have been stirred up by Trump’s victory.
“Enter President-elect Trump, who threatened on the campaign trail to back away from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and force U.S. allies to shoulder more of the burden of their defense. Amid concern of a future bromance between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the victory has put Europe on notice — and bracing for trans-Atlantic divisions potentially greater than the'”freedom fries’ era of George W. Bush.”
The question that is raised with the victory of Trump is as to whether the victor’s campaign promises will be made reality and therefore cause Germany to use its strength for the first time since the final days of World War II. A nation that has remained like a “sleeping giant” for decades since the horror and violence imparted by the tyrannical mass murderer Adolf Hitler is reportedly now calling to strengthen military capabilities and acquiring all necessary equipment while standing at the ready. Germany, along with Belgium and Finland, is now focused on reworking security to be independent of the United States, a nation that has long been a strong and powerful ally, as they face and prepare for the dawning of Trump’s presidency.
“Europe will have to be prepared to take better precautions itself,” German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen told public television.
Trump may not follow through on his vows that can be seen as nothing less than radical, and Germany may continue on as a nation that shies away from military power, seeing as the public greatly opposes it. However, Donald Trump’s presidency may also shake things up and inspire European nations to form stronger allegiances with one another in the wake of this change, including the formation of a European army “anchored by Germany and France.”
After Brexit and Trump, here are the next five dominoes at risk in Europe https://t.co/YICOSYyQet pic.twitter.com/AJgeCnn3ri
— Bloomberg (@business) November 10, 2016
This new phase of European security seems to already be revealing itself as Berlin is deploying 650 soldiers to Mali next month for an experimental operation to allow relief to French forces that are fighting IS militants. In the next year, German troops will also be deployed to Lithuania as a means for NATO to counter an “increasing belligerent Russia.”
“If Russia reaches a great power understanding with Trump, Germany would need to reconsider its defense,” said Christian Molling, a senior trans-Atlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. “But defending against whom? Also the U.S.? You open a Pandora’s box.”
The Russian government maintained contacts with members of Donald Trump’s “immediate entourage,” a diplomat said https://t.co/XubFjREER5
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 11, 2016
Along with many Americans, the fears that Trump create are felt by Europe as well. His plan for foreign policy has only been mildly touched on, but nations such as Germany have been unable to arrange meetings ahead of the campaign, so it is the fear of the unknown that world leaders such as Merkel feel.
“Trump is the trailblazer of a new authoritarian and international chauvinist movement,” Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s deputy chancellor, told German media after the U.S. presidential election.
He continued, “They want a rollback to the bad old times in which women belonged by the stove or in bed, gays in jail, and unions at best at the side table. He who doesn’t keep his mouth shut gets publicly bashed.”
The days following Trump’s victory have caused many to see that with the victory and the vote by Britain to leave the European Union, it is like the crumbling of an old world order. As the Post notes, many feel that “Trump’s victory means a massive trans-Atlantic free-trade deal — years in the making — is effectively dead. And Berlin will be hard-pressed to maintain European unity on sanctions against Russia if the United States backs away from its own.”
“All eyes will be on Berlin,” said Josef Janning, the head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Merkel appears to be the only pillar still standing.”
[Feature Image by Alexander Koerner/Getty Images]
