By viewing the governance of Europe from the period after the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and the illusion of the end of the Cold War (1991) to the present day through the prism of Gestalt psychology, we realise that Europe lives in fear and deception vis-à-vis the United States of America. After the Second World War in 1945 – in which the United States has called itself a winner – while the world was living in relative peace, it was at that very moment (in peacetime) that the United States created an aggressive military alliance: the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), in the ranks of which are the United States and its European allies. Since its creation in 1949, NATO has distinguished itself by pushing fear and terror unto the rest of the world. The true winner of the Second World War, i.e. Russia (USSR), was able to stand as a pole of protest against the unipolar world order of the NATO West. Today this has resulted in the multipolarity of the BRICS group.
Having established itself as the «land of blood» since 1914 through fratricidal wars, Europe is searching for a so-called ‘guarantee of security’ offered by NATO, becoming the doormat of the United States rather than gaining protection. Despite this state of affairs, European leaders continue to believe that opposing the United States could harm the interests and general well-being of Europe. However, globally, the United States no longer has the monopoly on coercive power to even offer this guarantee. The relationship between Europe and the United States has always been based on the legitimisation of neocolonialism and was founded via the manipulation of all international institutions (for example the UN and its specialised and affiliated institutions). The two actors share economic and political ties, solid security, which are all based on the exploitation of the oppressed peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America. However, in recent years tensions have emerged over various issues such as trade policies, defence spending, climate change agreements and diplomatic relations. Overwhelmed by the speed of recent events in the global arena, European leaders seem disoriented by fear of the supposed potential consequences of their tense relationship with the United States and they dwell on the importance of maintaining a cooperative partnership – even if it resembles modern-day slavery. This hesitation in Europe’s self-determination vis-à-vis the United States fuels deep crisis regarding the unity of Europe and its sovereignty on the world stage. While multipolarity is growing at an increasingly accelerated pace, Europe’s leaders still find it difficult to choose between freeing themselves from the unbridled unipolar world order and integrating into the new multipolar world order, as they are guided by the foreign policy of the United States.
The international arena is complex and changing
The role once played by the United States in world affairs is one of the main reasons why European leaders view opposition to the United States as ‘suicide’ for Europe is. The United States was a major economic power and a key player in international politics; for decades it wielded considerable influence over global decision-making processes, but now it has little influence. These times are over, as the new centres of power are, within the scope of BRICS, undermining the bastions of American-Western hegemony. From the point of view of European leaders, the paradox is that, by antagonising or alienating the United States, European countries risk losing crucial economic opportunities, security partnerships and diplomatic alliances that, in their eyes, are vital for their own stability and prosperity. What they still ignore in the 21st century is that the new multipolar world order, advocated for by BRICS, does not stand against the West or any other entity, rather it offers a fairer and more inclusive world.
In the same way that European leaders understand that unity among Western nations is essential to address common challenges such as terrorism, cybersecurity threats and geopolitical instability – of which they are the sole architects – they must also understand that they are not alone on planet Earth, «an obligation to cohabit despite everything», as Raymond Aron said. While the transatlantic partnership between Europe and the United States has historically served as a cornerstone of Western solidarity and cooperation, European politicians still maintain that any fracture in this relationship could weaken the collective ability of Western nations to effectively approach common threats. In other words, keeping the global majority under the heel of the Western minority. This shows that this solidarity and cooperation are organised around looting, the spoliation of resources and the deterioration of trade terms. All of humanity regrets the dark periods when the collective West exercised global power and the entire earth is now rising against the lords of unbridled unipolarity, i.e. the West.
Furthermore, European leaders appear to be underestimating the realities of the broader geopolitical landscape, which includes emerging powers such as China and Russia cooperating and operating within BRICS for greater influence on the global stage. In this context, maintaining a moribund transatlantic alliance of a NATO nature becomes even more critical for Europe’s strategic interests and security. By standing alongside the United States, European countries could stumble while trying to navigate complex geopolitical dynamics and would no longer be able to preserve their own position in an increasingly competitive global environment.
To conclude, we can infer that while disagreements arise between Europe and the United States on certain issues, European leaders still perceive it as strategically unwise to take a confrontational stance toward their American counterparts. They therefore value the importance of preserving a cooperative relationship with the United States to advance the common and unhealthy objectives of the collective West, which consist of protecting mutual interests and defending Western values on the international stage. A moribund alliance of NATO unipolarity can no longer dissuade anyone from the positive dynamics of the multipolar BRICS alliance. With the new multipolar world order, the world is continuing to move into the future with or without the Western minority.
Mohamed Lamine KABA – Expert in geopolitics of governance and regional integration, Institute of Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences, Pan-African University, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.