Gli alleati non placano per sempre Donald Trump: se Trump convince i partner che l’ordine post-1945 è davvero morto, le cose diventeranno brutte.
https://www.economist.com/international/2025/02/04/allies-will-not-appease-donald-trump-for-ever?utm_medium=social-media.content.np&utm_source=threads&utm_campaign=editorial-social&utm_content=discovery.content
di nimicdoareu
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>Seen from Washington, it looks as if even rich, proud allies are in retreat. Take Europe. Mr Trump has demanded that America should buy the mineral-rich island of Greenland from Denmark. Rather than confront him, the Danes have asked European leaders to avoid statements that might provoke Mr Trump. Small wonder Mr Trump sounds serene, telling reporters last month that “we will get” Greenland. America must control the island because Denmark cannot defend the Arctic from China and Russia, insisted Mr Trump, mocking Danish plans to beef up its northern defences as adding “two dog sleds” (while neglecting to mention American armed forces already stationed in Greenland).
>In truth, if Mr Trump thinks other governments are surrendering without a fight, and resigning themselves to a new, might-makes-right world order, he is miscalculating. Most allies believe in the post-1945 system that he so despises, and hope to defend its essential elements. Avoiding fights is an initial, tactical response. A second plan involves buying him off, explain senior figures in Brussels. Though European Union trade officials have spent months modelling the costs of various Trump tariffs on EU exports, and of retaliatory moves, the real ambition is to avoid all-out trade conflict. That explains Trump-pleasing proposals from European Commission chiefs to buy more American liquefied natural gas, ideally ending Europe’s need for Russian gas. It is why several members of NATO are promising to increase defence budgets, and to spend those extra billions on American fighter jets and other expensive kit.
>But gestures of appeasement and tactical retreats on minor issues can buy only so much time, and Europe is realising that far harder choices loom. Mr Trump’s assault is broader and more profound than anticipated, says Steven Everts, director of the EU Institute for Security Studies, an EU policy-planning and research agency. “The attack was expected to come on trade and economics, we were ready for that.” Europe’s plan was to hedge its bets to keep globalisation alive, he relates: “There are 7.5bn people who aren’t Americans, let’s trade more with them.”
>Mr Trump, however, is picking fights that touch on Europe’s core interests, as a bloc whose strength lies in unity and in rules. In Brussels a striking number of Eurocrats express angst about a legal dispute that pits Elon Musk and other American technology bosses against an EU law, the Digital Services Act. The act requires social-media firms to control misinformation, hate speech and illegal content on their platforms.
>Eurocrats investigating how X and other firms police content could impose huge fines. Mr Musk, the owner of X, calls that outrageous censorship, even as he wades into Europe’s culture wars by promoting hard-right and anti-immigrant demagogues on social media. A European official insists that the online spread of “blatant untruths”, some propagated by Russia and other hostile powers to influence elections, imperils “the European way of life”. But Mr Musk’s complaints have Mr Trump’s ear. “We are stuck,” laments the official. “We can’t just say we won’t apply the provisions of the Digital Services Act.”
>**Mistaking fear for an admission of defeat**
>In the glass-walled corridors of Brussels power, there is real anger over Mr Trump’s support for populist nationalists in Europe, notably Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban. Mr Orban’s pro-Russia, pro-China sympathies routinely lead him to block tough EU policies towards those powers. For centrist Europeans, it is not just a partisan move for Trumpworld to embrace Mr Orban. It is an attack on their continent’s unity and thus its security.
European leaders are trying to accommodate Mr Trump—for now.
>A handful of populist leaders share his views. A larger group is betting that he will become distracted and find other targets. Some hope to wait him out. But the moment that Mr Trump convinces allies that their favoured world order is dead, their incentives will reverse. With nothing to lose, even friendly European governments will try to deceive, resist and hedge against a hostile America. Already, influential voices in Brussels, Berlin and other capitals murmur that Europe should draw closer to China.
We SHOUlD foster better ties with China. Obviously they are no saints but the reason they are so demonized an we keep hearing about their human right abuses while we hear nothing but crickets about the human rights abuses of the United States is because we are following along our so called ally in its propaganda war against its main rival. But let’s compare the admittedly horrible situation of the Uyghurs with Guantanamo bay, Abu Ghraib and the over 1 million civilians killed by the US in Iraq . How many wars did China start? And to what extent are they destabilizing us actually? Are they threatening to invade our sovereign territory or want to buy it? Are they now OVERTLY supporting right wing politicians that want to undermine our institutions ? Who is really our friend here?
Who appeases him in all his crazy ideas? And do europe need the US. Only thing they have is their military. Waste of money. Who is the enemy? Driving garden sheds.
It has been dead since Bush II, but europeans are masters at deceiving themselves.
Donald trumps America should be treated as the adversarial threat that it is.
So he’s giving europe a choice, rest under the boot of an increasingly far right America, which believe me will extract huge wealth from Europe, or buddy up with a very willing china. China beginning to look real good about now.
I’d be more scared of other rammifications of USA self destruction, nuclear non-proliferation is gone, I don’t think no one thinks USA is going to comply with any mutual defence pact, I can see South Korea and Japan starting to think to get nuclear weapons now for dissuasion, probably Saudi Arabia too.
The United States is the same order designated by our Constitution. There is no “post-1945 order.”
The newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is tracing the long, complex trail of government spending. US taxpayers deserve to know where their money is spent. The US Treasury Department should be able to provide a clear account of government spending as it is responsible for processing trillions in government payments per year. It has been revealed that the US Treasury has not been doing its part.
Americans provide the US Treasury Department with their hard-earned dollars every tax season, and throughout the year for that matter. The agency is tasked with managing the government’s finances, paying all government bills, and collecting taxes and duties. It supervises national banks and thrift institutions. The agency is supposed to aid in guiding international policy and maintaining relationships with foreign institutions and governments to maintain economic stability globally.
Who is in charge? Top civil servant at the Treasury, David Lebryk, unexpectedly left his office as soon as the DOGE investigation began. Lebryk forfeited his government pension and career instead of complying. He has since been replaced by Scott Bessent who has provided DOGE with access to the federal payments system.
When is the EU going to wake up and realise we have no true allies. The EU needs to realise it’s own strength, create a federal EU with EU foreign policy and an EU army. I hope this is the wake up call needed to stop China, Russia and the US from breaking the EU apart.
Neville Chamberlain got it horrible wrong when dealing with bullies, I hope we aren’t following his playbook.
And the Americans are clueless. They should look into Ukraine and imagine what a outnumbered American population can do – and they are soon without no friends.
You need our protection… just remember that
Its the same rhetoric as turkiye. Ataturk didnt finish the job by removing islamists, instead he tolerated them. Same for the federates in us civil war, they tolerated the backward southerners.
Now it bites back in extremes.
De Gaulles was always right…
Trump is not only fucking dumb. He’s insane, too.