Of all the geopolitics out there, The US-EU relationship is the only one that has been structurally and permanently impacted in the first two months of the Trump presidency.
As a 76 year old Brit, I have watched for over 50 years as the US demanded that Britain do its bidding, buy its weaponry and conform to its standards for war goods.
Stupid us, we fell into line and met their demands. Now I have to listen to a Ken doll called Pete Hegseth jeer at us because we are dependent on their weaponry and systems. He acts as if we were bloodsuckers on the American state when, in fact, America has been feasting on our blood since 1939.
Perhaps because I’m in the middle of it, I would suggest you’ve under appreciate the change in the Canada US relationship. Not saying the EU change is any less than you’ve laid out. Just that the Canadian change is also pretty dramatic. On a fundamental level, I think Canada will/should evaluate every decision going forward on how it will minimize US leverage or maximize Canadian leverage. That has not been our view historically.
That said we all thought the world was changed forever during Covid and in many ways have gone back to normal. The real test for many of these relationships will be the post Trump US government. If it pulls a 180, maybe things can renormalize. If Vance wins in 2028 that’s a whole different ball game, and of course there’s lots of shades of grey between those two.
As a 76 year old Brit, I have watched for over 50 years as the US demanded that Britain do its bidding, buy its weaponry and conform to its standards for war goods.
Stupid us, we fell into line and met their demands. Now I have to listen to a Ken doll called Pete Hegseth jeer at us because we are dependent on their weaponry and systems. He acts as if we were bloodsuckers on the American state when, in fact, America has been feasting on our blood since 1939.
Perhaps because I’m in the middle of it, I would suggest you’ve under appreciate the change in the Canada US relationship. Not saying the EU change is any less than you’ve laid out. Just that the Canadian change is also pretty dramatic. On a fundamental level, I think Canada will/should evaluate every decision going forward on how it will minimize US leverage or maximize Canadian leverage. That has not been our view historically.
That said we all thought the world was changed forever during Covid and in many ways have gone back to normal. The real test for many of these relationships will be the post Trump US government. If it pulls a 180, maybe things can renormalize. If Vance wins in 2028 that’s a whole different ball game, and of course there’s lots of shades of grey between those two.