Expert on Trump's new world order What Europe and Switzerland should do now
For Donald Trump, the old world order has had its day. If he has his way, only a few major powers will call the shots in future - Europe is not one of them. A security researcher explains what needs to be done now.
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- In the new world order as envisioned by Trump, Europe has no role to play.
- According to political scientist Peter Neumann, the EU is not the right tool to have a say in the future.
- Instead, the European middle powers of Germany, France and the UK need to cooperate more closely.
- Switzerland, on the other hand, is in a "good position" as the interests of the USA and other major powers are represented here.
The self-proclaimed peace president has Maduro arrested, reaches out to Greenland and threatens other states. The new US security strategy also clearly shows how Donald Trump envisions the future world order. Europe has no place in it.
"The old, rules-based world order is falling apart and something new is emerging," says security researcher Peter Neumann, professor at King's College London, in an interview with CH Media. It is "undoubtedly the case that Donald Trump and perhaps a few other major powers want to determine the fate of the world", explains the political scientist.
According to him, Trump wants to divide the world into spheres of influence with a few other major powers and create a "concert of great powers", "just like in the 19th century". The problem from a European perspective is that Donald Trump does not see Europe as being part of this. "At worst, he sees Europe as an opponent or bargaining chip for his deals with others," says Neumann.
Union of the middle powers
So what remains for the old continent? First of all, it "urgently needs a strategy". According to Neumann, Europe's middle powers need to work much more closely together to stand up to Trump.
But the EU is not the right format for this, says Neumann. "That's why the middle powers - France, Germany and the UK - need to join forces now."
Switzerland, on the other hand, is "still in a relatively good position", as the interests of America and other major powers are also represented here. "That's why Switzerland is approached differently than other European countries," explains the security researcher.
What is happening with Greenland?
Trump has recently made it clear time and again that he wants the island of Greenland, which belongs to Denmark, at all costs. So will there be an annexation? For Neumann, it will "boil down to them signing an agreement with Greenland that gives the Americans extensive rights over the island".
According to the political scientist, Europe should now insist on the right of peoples to self-determination. A possible agreement would therefore "have to be accepted by the Greenlandic population", says Neumann. Should they not do so, Europe would have to oppose it. And should it come to a military conflict, NATO would be finished." It would be a super-GAU in terms of security policy," says Neumann.
After Venezuela, Donald Trump has now also set his sights on other countries. "The driving force behind all of this is not necessarily Trump, but his Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio," says Neumann, adding: "I think the next stop is Cuba." The state is "even more broken than Venezuela in terms of government".
For Marco Rubio in particular, but also for Trump, it would be a kind of coronation to bring about change there. After all, several previous governments had failed to force a change of power in Cuba.
"If we don't do this, we'll be on the menu"
Trump's new geopolitics holds "little good" in store for Europe. "We are seeing the emergence of a world order that is less Western, less European and less democratic," says Neumann. "We have to think very quickly about how we can still have any say at all in shaping this new world order." In addition to the aforementioned middle powers of Germany, France and the UK, Europe must also "cooperate more closely with other middle powers such as Canada, Australia and South Korea".
For the researcher, these alliances are essential: "If we don't do this, we won't be sitting at the table with the major powers, but will be on the menu."
