Six years ago, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, warned that Europe could no longer rely on America to defend its NATO allies. Macron has since been proved right, and Europe has finally heeded his warning that it needs to start thinking of itself as a strategic geopolitical power. In this regard, the EU summit in December was a pivotal moment, prompted by the prospect of Ukraine’s collapse.

President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy (NSS) makes clear “the days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over.” It will rebalance its trade relations and seek “fair, reciprocal trade deals” through the strategic use of tariffs. But the system of reciprocal tariffs has not only upended global trade but also opened a debate on “affordability.”

The document’s ire is reserved for Europe. In a reflection of JD Vance’s address at the Munich Security Conference in February, it notes that apart from economic decline, “it is faced with the real and more stark prospect of civilisational erasure.”

The NSS raises the issue of mass migration and states, “the era of mass migration must end.” It foresees that, if current trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable within 20 years. Furthermore, “it is more than plausible that within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become majority non-European,” and the fear is not unjustified.

In 2015, Europe experienced a massive influx of refugees when German chancellor Angela Merkel, in a Mother Teresa moment, declared “Wir schaffen das” (We can do it) and flung open Europe’s doors to the Middle East’s tired, poor, and huddled masses.

France has its ZUS (Sensitive Urban Zones) with a high immigrant population, Sweden is overwhelmed by immigrant-led gang warfare, and the European Court of Justice has ruled that the Danish “ghetto law” in 2018 may violate EU equality directives.

The main thrust of the NSS is........

© The National Interest