We're also going to see far-right parties such as AfD in Germany get a huge influx of funding and support from the USA. Vance doesn't see Russia or China as a threat. He's going to continue promoting the spread of disinformation. Counterterrorism agencies and the like will continue to be defunded.
Americans have already lost data privacy. Who knows who controls their most sensitive government data and what it will be used for when these - shall we say, tech oligarchs install the system they're envisioning. As much as Vance hates Europe, he sees it as his little political project.
He's not as dumb as he looks, though, he is ignorant of the world. He's a Midwestern hick. He doesn't know Europe - the history, the geography, the politics, the culture. On the bright or not so dark side, he has an off-putting persona. He might not be able to command the cult like DJT has done.
He might lose popularity like Musk did, because of DOGE. And, because the USA has been axing its foreign policy tools, its influence over Europe will continue to diminish. The EU and its democratic partners and allies should nevertheless get prepared. It doesn't look good for NATO.
The EU is totally capable of navigating these waters. What worries me is the naivety of European leaders. Russia is a distant shadow of its former self but Moscow continues to have an outsized influence because European leaders aren't equipped to handle the sheer ruthlessness of it.
An illiberal USA will likewise be a long term problem because even in its diminished state, it's going to have a lot of residual power, and it, depending on its leader, is willing to use it against us in ways that we aren't used to.
Is it going to be Europe against the world? No, not exactly. We're going to have to choose our allies issue by issue. We stand to benefit from values-based cooperation with other democratic partners and allies around the world the most. At least in Canada's case, the feeling is mutual.
Then there are countries that aren't democratic or aligned with liberal democracies, but aren't willing to throw international law or the principle that borders cannot be changed by force out of the window. This is most of the world based on what we see in the UN General Assembly.
US trade wars will have us cooperating with everyone else except the USA, including countries that are positioning themselves against us in other respects, such as China or India. Trade is good. Economic interdependence is a risk. We cannot be dependent on anyone. Welcome to the 21st century. 🌍
Russia is also funding the AfD