Expert weighs in on how U.S. relations with Europe are changing : NPR
How is the United States reshaping its relationship with its long-time allies in Europe? NPR speaks with Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
For more on how the U.S.-Europe relationship is evolving in real time, we turn to Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer to discuss this new national security memo from the Trump administration. She is president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a nonpartisan political organization that works to advance cooperation between the United States and Europe. Hello and thank you for being on the program.
ALEXANDRA DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Hello. Thank you for having me.
FADEL: So this new national security memo says the United States should cultivate, quote, “resistance to Europe’s current trajectory” and should prevent NATO from perpetual expansion. When you hear that, resist this current trajectory, prevent NATO from expanding, what do you think?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: On top of that, you probably see a growing gap in values, in standards. There is, however, a non-negotiable need for Europe and the United States to redefine their relationship, their cooperation, probably much more in terms of shared interests than shared values.
FADEL: This document is out. This really shows that the administration views its relationships with foreign powers not as a source of freedom in the world, as the United States itself has often seen, but as a way to reduce migration in the West and maintain transactional and financially lucrative relationships. So how should Europe respond right now?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Well, Europe needs to do three things simultaneously. The first is to continue to collaborate with the United States when interests align. Number 2, Europe will have to go it alone when interests diverge. And then, thirdly, Europe will need to form alliances with other like-minded powers. You have seen this in recent months with the Indo-Pacific countries, but also the Middle Eastern countries and the Latin American countries.
So I would say that what you see today is a new transatlantic market in which Europeans accept and integrate the idea that the transatlantic relationship will be more transactional, more conditional. And that includes collective defense. It is therefore time for Europe to act to reduce its strategic dependencies on the United States, while preserving the transatlantic link.
FADEL: What are the implications for the United States as it changes strategy and other countries change their view of the United States and its relationship with the United States?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Well, the United States is reorganizing its global priorities around its core interests and not its historical relationships. And you see it with the ranking, right? It’s the Western Hemisphere first, China second, and Europe third. Thus, from the American point of view, expectations towards Europeans, in terms of increased responsibility for their own security, their own defense, will be at the top of the American transatlantic agenda.
FADEL: And you mentioned the war in Ukraine. What could all this mean for this?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Yes, well, I think in Ukraine, what you see is that Washington wants speed. Europe, on the other hand, needs long-term security and stability and must avoid a frozen conflict on its doorstep. Ultimately, this so-called peace plan will actually define the terms of the future NATO-EU-Russia relationship. This will be Trump’s peace deal. What the Europeans therefore want is to co-draft this peace agreement to be sure that it will be lasting, both for Ukraine, but also for their own security.
FADEL: We will have to leave it there. Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer is president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Thank you for your time.
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SUMMER 2000 AND LOBSTERFIGHT’S “BLOOD MOON WANING”)
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