WITH political tensions mounting at home, few are likely following developm­ents in Europe. According to a new National Security Strategy released by the US White House, Europe is threatened by nothing less than “civilisational erasure”. But Isl­a­mabad shouldn’t write it off just yet. Ins­tead, it should consider how it will navigate growing US-EU tensions given the implications for Pakistan’s economy and security.

The new US security strategy is the first to lay out the Trump administration’s approach to geopolitics. It highlights concern for the future of the “Western hemisphere” and “Western identity”, fearing that European countries may have majority non-European populations in the next few decades due to falling domestic birth rates and migration. It also despairs at the prospects for Europe’s economic growth and defence capacity.

Most alarming to the centrist parties ruling European countries, it celebrates the growing influence of “patriotic European parties”, signalling more US support to come for far-right parties such as Germany’s AfD and France’s National Rally. Alarmed Europeans have interpreted the strategy as a not-so-subtle call for Europe’s far right to ‘Make Europe Great Again’ (MEGA, if you........

© Dawn