Trump’s nationalist threats and the response of the European ruling class
2 February 2017
Less than two weeks after Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president, the political authority in Europe of the US government has been shattered. As protests against Trump’s travel ban spread internationally and conflicts erupt between Washington and the European Union over trade and military policy, the outcome of the US election is plunging Europe into an unprecedented crisis.
The new president is deeply unpopular in Europe. A FranceInfo poll found Trump had disapproval rates of 83 percent in Germany, 81 percent in France, 80 percent in Spain, 75 percent in Britain and 59 percent in Italy. The European population is sympathetically following protests in the United States and other countries against Trump, whose anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant measures are widely despised. They are seen for what they are: an attempt to persecute defenseless people based on appeals to nationalism and racism.
While the popular opposition to Trump expresses hostility to chauvinism and war, the European ruling class is strengthening its military and police forces in preparation for conflict with Washington.
Contradictions are emerging with enormous speed. In November, as he toured Europe to offer reassurances about Trump’s election, President Barack Obama insisted that Trump had a deep “commitment to NATO and the trans-Atlantic alliance.” Barely two months later, conflicts unleashed by Trump’s election have undermined the relations between American and European capitalism that have prevailed since World War II.
Trump’s election did not cause this breakdown. Rather, it served as its catalyst. His dismissal of the NATO alliance as obsolete arises from tensions among the NATO allies,…