Europe remains a vital U.S. partner
President Barack Obama’s shift to a new concentration on Asia added giants China and India to Japan as high priority suppliers of U.S. imports and clients for our exports, a policy that President Donald Trump has more or less continued.
At the same time, the move to second place for the European Union’s 28 countries in terms of trade priorities needs to be handled carefully. The EU countries ranked first in 2018 in overall U.S. international trade.
It is also important not to forget that European countries were either allies or enemies in the two major world wars of the 20th century. They are fellow members of NATO. Peace in Europe clearly remains vital to American wellbeing.
Our withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement left allies France, Germany and the United Kingdom, still in the Iran accord, twisting in the breeze and risking becoming victims of U.S. economic sanctions themselves by not abandoning an accord we had signed.
That act and Mr. Trump’s erratic approach to the use of tariffs send a clear message that arriving at agreements with the United States is risky business,
not unlike dealing in New York City real estate, including a role for the Russian mob.
Mr. Trump now is visiting the United Kingdom, which is struggling to extract itself from the EU, and then will drop in on Ireland, which is, in principle, also like “comfort food” in terms of U.S. relations. He would not have wanted to miss a state dinner at Buckingham Palace in case he loses the 2020 election.
If the United Kingdom finally divorces the EU, Ireland may be drafted into the role that the U.K. used to play as America’s English-speaking access route to the EU, although Ireland doesn’t pack the same weight.
The EU now is experiencing turmoil on both its western and eastern flanks — with Brexit in the west and the war between Russia and Ukraine in the east. The Europeans continue to see Russia as a threat as it continues to hold Ukraine helpless in its jaws. Meanwhile, Ukraine has elected as president Volodymyr Zelensky, a TV comedian. Nobody in the U.S., with the possible exception of National Security Adviser John Bolton, who seeks war with anybody, wants to fight Russia for eastern Ukraine.
Europe also can be said to be in the midst of a leadership crisis. The decision of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to step down as head of her party removes her steadying presence. No replacement is in sight. French President Emmanuel Macron aspires to European leadership but his domestic political support is too tentative to allow him to play such a role. Italy and Spain, two other EU heavyweights, are too shaky economically and too unpredictable politically to carry the European ball.
Other Europeans are just hoping and praying that the British mess over Brexit isn’t contagious. It will be amusing to see what impact, if any, Mr. Trump will have on the U.K. Probably none.
In the meantime, the mainstream center-right and centerleft European political parties and the right-wing nationalists in Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland and Slovakia duke it out in national elections and the EU Parliament for influence and control.
The May European Parliament elections offered some hope to those who favor a stronger EU. Voter turnout was better than in 2014, with some 214 million Europeans casting a ballot.
The EU Parliament offers a pleasant contrast to the U.S. Congress. Action on much legislation is taken by “co-decisions.” The EU budget is agreed upon for seven years.
In spite of whatever dust EU conflicts may kick up, the Europeans are still America’s most reliable partners in trade and international politics. France and Britain have survived losing their empires. Italy seems to have left behind its occasional political and economic chaos. Spain has emerged from Franco’s fascism to become a vigorous democracy. Germany has worked through reconstruction and reunification to prosperity.
On its merits, Europe richly deserves our continued attention and close cooperation. Distractions like Mr. Trump’s quarrels with the mayor of London and Prince Harry’s wife should never be allowed to get in the way.