No Alternative for Europe

It says: Yoschka Fischer

B EARLY, it is clear that Donald Trump's return to the US presidency has launched a process of historical reorganisation. One of the first and biggest victims of Trump's political initiatives is the transatlantic relationship, which has anchored global order since it emerged from Allied victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 (and reinforced by Western victory in the Cold War after 1989).

Thus, current reorganization ( taken with little or no preparation) will come mainly at the expense of the Old Continent. Although Europeans face the return of the war at their borders to the ongoing fighting in Ukraine, the new US administration apparently wants the return of American troops now stationed in Europe to America. What about us? That's a question we Europeans need to answer completely on our own.

Make no mistake: The United States is being pulled out of Europe. A complete departure may not have been decided yet, but all signs indicate this outcome, and Europeans must therefore act as though it were going to happen.

Furthermore, the US are not only withdrawing; they are also giving up their roles as guarantor powers and the main market within a global free trade system. Already, their unilateral economic aggression against friends and business partners has brought global economic order out of balance. Protectionism has replaced free trade, and losses are on the rise. The world is moving towards trade blocks based on tariffs that will reflect the new geopolitical blocks of the 20th and 1st century.

Since the end of World War II, Western Europe has been sheltered under the umbrella of American security. These countries shared values that favoured democracy and the market economy -- values that were embraced by almost all over Europe after the Cold War. But America's imminent attraction creates a radically different situation for Europeans.

We must prepare for a future in which we are pressed between an imperial and aggressive Russia and an America that cannot be trusted anymore. This means answering the fundamental question raised by this historic turning point: Are we willing to do what is needed to transform ourselves into a lasting power in our right?

If the people of Europe respond positively, the mechanics of European sovereignty have to take central place. To be sovereign means to believe in your political strength and will.

We are experiencing not only a geopolitical turmoil but also a seismic change of technology and economics. The digital revolution and the growth of the IA will have broad consequences for all economies and societies, as well as for multi-planet relations between them.

In the face of these divisions, traditional European national states will be able to keep pace and thrive only if they join in expressing a common political will. Each alone, even the greatest (Germany) is too small for the task.

The external pressures we face are difficult to exaggerate. Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to wage war against Ukraine and threaten the rest of Eastern Europe. The Trump administration has shown nothing but contempt for us and is apparently committed to causing more economic pain to America and its trading partners. Meanwhile, China is moving ahead in its pursuit of artificial intelligence and advanced military equipment.

All these pressures will continue to increase in the months and years ahead. But Europeans still have action power. We can present our plight as an opportunity to build up again. The challenge is not only to overcome entrenched sources of internal and external resistance but also to preserve our diverse identities.

We must not miss this chance. Trump and Putin are not the founding fathers we would have chosen for this moment, but they are what we have. Europe must claim itself as a sovereign power and move forward itself. There is no alternative unless Europeans choose dishonest submission for a future.

We must create military restrictions, create dynamic conditions necessary for domestic digitalisation and innovation, create a single capital market, and collect a form of common political will and institutions to realise it in practice, based on common democratic values.

In short, we must unite Europe as a free and sovereign power. If this fails, we will be at the mercy of foreign actors who would like nothing more than to see Europe disintegrate and fall into a state of weakness and permanent submission.

* Yoschka Fischer, was foreign minister and Germany's deputy Chancellor from 1998 to 2005, was leader of the German Green Party for nearly 20 years.