“The old world is dying, and the new is slow to emerge…”

“… and in this twilight, monsters emerge,” wrote Antonio Gramsci[1]. The dramatic “reception”—or rather, the ambush—prepared for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House by Donald Trump and JD Vance was not merely a televised spectacle gone wrong or a spectacular dispute between two heads of state. It marks the turning point of a new world order.

The world order established after the Second World War, characterised by the existence of the United Nations and military alliances, particularly for the Western world, has come to an end. There should be no illusions: we are entering an entirely new era.

Donald Trump despises international law and the UN. He had already made this clear, so it comes as no surprise. The UN will face significant difficulties in continuing its work, though it is true that it was already hindered before. But what is even more disruptive to the international landscape is the fundamental rupture that Donald Trump is imposing on the Atlantic Alliance. Since 1949, and indeed since Harry Truman declared in 1947 that the United States would lead the free world, Western European countries and then Eastern European countries were protected from the threat coming from Moscow by the United States. It is this world that Donald Trump has just dismantled.

To him, the European Union (EU) is an enemy because he primarily views the relationship through a commercial lens. He believes he will gain more advantages by trading with Russia.

Donald Trump has thus indicated not only to Volodymyr Zelensky but also to Europeans that the Alliance is over. From the moment the United States announces that it will no longer protect its European partners and that they must fend for themselves, NATO simply ceases to exist.

It is necessary to move beyond denial and not to believe that the United States will come to its senses, realise its mistake, and that this is merely an unfortunate phase. This phase will last at least four years. And Trumpism will outlive Donald Trump. If JD Vance succeeds him, the situation will not improve for the Atlantic Alliance. It is therefore essential to prepare for a new world now and, regardless of any regrets, to acknowledge that the old world has disappeared.

Of course, American unilateralism did not begin with Donald Trump. The Iraq War, the disregard for international law, the use of its power to impose its will on both allies and rivals—none of this is new. But Donald Trump is pushing it to previously unknown extremes. In some ways, he is waking Europeans up. This brutality should serve to end the strategic blindness in which the EU has been trapped for too long.

It is well known that the European strategic community, including in France, has been under American influence: intellectual debates, funding, think tanks, journals… The geopolitical centre of the Western world was Washington. American soft power was overwhelmingly dominant in strategic matters. Atlanticists and neoconservatives were far more numerous than those who identified with Gaullo-Mitterrandism, even in France. Those who advocated for European strategic autonomy were dismissed as dreamers chasing a mirage. Because the reality, the real security, was NATO, American protection. That is now over.

What better example than Estonian Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who recently cancelled a trip to India with the entire Commission to travel to the United States in order to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio—only to be turned away. It may not have been as spectacular as the altercation between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, as it was not televised. But for an EU representative to travel specifically to the United States, only to find the door closed due to scheduling issues, is a profound humiliation. Consequently, Kaja Kallas, who viewed NATO as the only protection for Europeans, is beginning to realise that the European Union must change course. The fact that the new German Chancellor has also stated that the EU must become independent from the United States shows that this shift in direction is now acknowledged by European leaders. A new phase is beginning: if the President and Vice President of the United States declare that NATO no longer exists as we have known it, conclusions must be drawn, and illusions must not be clung to. Reality must be faced.

European strategic autonomy is no longer a mere aspiration; it has become an urgent necessity. The EU has no choice. It has even been designated as an enemy by the President of the United States due to a significant trade deficit.

When someone spits in your face, you should not say it is raining. One must take into account the insults that Donald Trump has directed not only at Volodymyr Zelensky but also at the countries of the European Union.

In reality, the European Union is an enemy in Donald Trump’s eyes because it implements market regulations, adheres to international law (except in the Middle East), and supports multilateralism—concepts that Donald Trump vehemently rejects. The two sides of the Atlantic truly exist on different planets. And with Elon Musk in his administration, who seeks to challenge European regulations on digital technology, hostility towards the European Union will only intensify.

Donald Trump is out of touch with history. His clumsy slogan, “Make America Great Again,” harks back to a world that no longer exists. A unipolar world where American power alone mattered and could impose its will on everyone else. That world existed in 1945; it no longer exists today.

Donald Trump also wants a world in which women, the LGBTQIA+ community, and ethnic minorities have no voice. He seeks a profound rollback that will not happen. He wants a world in which hard power prevails over soft power. That world, too, no longer exists.

On climate, the UN, and multilateralism, the European Union stands in stark opposition to the United States. On some issues, it is sometimes even closer to China than to Washington. China could be the greatest beneficiary of America’s retreat. The end of US support for international institutions and Donald Trump’s brutal approach will ultimately serve China, which will capitalise on it, as will Russia. This does not mean the end of US-EU relations. But this relationship will no longer be an alliance as it has been for nearly 80 years. It will become a selective partnership. When the EU finds it beneficial to collaborate with the United States, it will do so, but it must also be forthright about its differences and disagreements when it is not aligned with Washington. And there will be no shortage of points of contention.

This article is also available on my blog and the Mediapart blog.

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[1] Antonio Gramsci, Les Cahiers de Prison, Cahiers 3 (Paris : Gallimard, 1983 [1948])“… and in this twilight, monsters emerge,” wrote Antonio Gramsci