impact of Trump’s ‘America First’ Policy on Post Cold War European Geopolitics
The dramatic shift in US postwar strategic approach towards Europe, as part of Trump’s ‘America First’, “isolationist” and “protectionist” policy, has already sent shock-waves to EU headquarters. Among the series of steps initiated by far-right and neofascist Trump, the most striking is his tirade against NATO, the most powerful US-led postwar military alliance with its anti-Communist and Islamophobic ideological orientation. For instance, Trump is the first Yankee leader who openly declared that “expansion of NATO” was the reason for the Ukraine conflict. He also alleged that formation of 27-member EU was with the intention to “screw the United States”. Further, violating the established precedent of holding US-Russia talks in European headquarters, for the first time in postwar history, US-Russia talks on ending war in Ukraine was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, totally sidelining EU and ignoring Ukraine, which is nothing but a proxy in the inter-imperialist conflict between US-led NATO and Russia.
While putting the responsibility of Ukraine security on European shoulders, Trump, the chief imperialist master, in his unilateral proposal, has offered no security guarantee to Ukraine in exchange for the latter transferring it’s strategic rare earth minerals to be extracted by US Military-Industrial Complex. And, in spite of EU’s stature as US’ main postwar strategic political-economic and military partner, Trump’s stern warning on imposing a wholesale 25% tariff on EU has already sent shockwaves across its 27-member countries.
Meanwhile, even as the future of NATO in its present form is uncertain, and amid grave concerns among EU allies in NATO about US funding and commitment to the alliance, Trump has already entered into a deal with Putin for sharing the precious mineral resources and dividing the ‘spheres of influence’ within Ukraine, that has become a typical neocolony today. The reported ‘altercation’ between the master and his lackey, Trump and Zelenskyy, both far-right neofascists at their respective levels, in his talks with Trump, and the White House asking Zelenskyy and his entourage to leave the office, are not going to change the direction of Trumpian move to retreat from earlier neocolonial global commitments.
Trump’s deal with Putin will have its indirect impact on US approach to China, the latter being the closest strategic ally of Russia, and is even effectively contending with US. At the same time, Trump’s overall foreign policy being propelled by immediate corporate-financial interests of leading billionaire financial oligarchy in US, will definitely result in a re-configuration in inter-imperialist contradictions in the days ahead. In this sense, Trump’s reshaping of decades-old US-EU relations, that began with Marshall Plan or European Reconstruction Program, as a pillar of Truman’s Cold War against global Communism, followed by NATO, etc., is only the begining of restructuring of US foreign policy in tune with MAGA (Make America Great Again).
Trump’s plan of Gaza cleansing and permanent relocation of about 2 million Palestinians to other Arab countries like Jordan and Egypt and to transform Gaza into a seaside resort, is also in conformity with economic interests of America. His Ukraine plan is a replica of the ‘Gaza project’ that worked behind the superimposed truce between Hamas and Israel, which is now proved as a trap on the Palestinians. No doubt, the details of the geopolitical manifestations of ‘Trumpism’ are to unfolded in the coming days.
