The chosen topic encapsulates well how much the international landscape has changed with Trump’s presidency and the perceived decline of American power, and the reality of China’s steady emergence as a global power in competition with the US. It also conveys that Europe should now be seen as a swing entity and not an independent power center.

That the new battleground could conceivably be China-Europe vs. America-Europe implies that Europe-US differences are becoming fundamental, that the Trump phenomenon constitutes a longer-term transformation of America and not an aberration that could pass with a change in the US presidency, and hence, Europe’s need to leverage China to counter American excesses.

This is a debatable visualization of the future. America and Europe are transatlantic allies. While Trump has questioned NATO’s relevance and bullied Europe on defense budgets, NATO is apparently functioning normally. NATO counters Russia, but with strengthening Russia-China strategic ties and America intent on curbing China’s power, a China-Europe tandem against America would put the transatlantic alliance in jeopardy, an eventuality for which Europe is unprepared.

Click here to read the full article on Metro UN (paywall).