The United States’ greatest weakness in its relations with Europe is a simple one: it’s Washington that needs the continent more than the continent needs Washington.
America arrived in Europe as one of the victors of the Second World War. It established military dominance in the western part, embedded itself in the region’s security architecture, and for decades used Europe as a forward base in its confrontation with the Soviet Union. In doing so, it also shielded Western European elites from the threat of communist movements in the late 1940s. A favor that, paradoxically, was never fully forgiven in Berlin, Paris or London.
That lingering resentment doesn’t mean Western Europe is about to revolt against its transatlantic patron. Its elites are too cautious and too compromised for that. But it does mean that, whenever the US shows weakness, these Europeans will exploit it, opportunistically, and without sentiment.
That moment has now arrived.
Recent decisions by Washington have created an opening that Western Europeans are already beginning to use. The clearest sign came when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer unexpectedly ruled out joining a naval blockade of Iran. For those who still believe in the unbreakable unity of the transatlantic alliance, this may have seemed surprising. In reality, it is entirely consistent with the logic of US-Western European relations over the past 80 years.
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