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My impression of historical US-Euro relations is that while realpolitik was always an important component, there was a sense of shared ideology (liberal democracy) and cultural history that strengthened the bond relative to, say, US-Egyptian or US-Indonesian relations. We were the "free countries," we were the "Western nations," and until recently, we were "Christian nations." However, mass immigration, multiculturalism and its consequent curtailing of civil liberties, and militant secularism and progressivism seem to have severely weakened those identies in Europe and made room new identities to assert themselves.
I see US-Euro relations decaying to the more transactional relations that the U.S. has with culturally alien countries. European countries making noises about cozying up to China sounds bizarre when operating under the assumption that the old identities hold, but it actually makes sense if Europeans now simply view China and America as two ideologically-alien superpowers who offer different sets of incentives and obligations and who can be played off one another for benefit.
I think a lot of the outrage about "European ingratitude" from the American right is caused by right wingers failing to realize that European 2025 is not the Europe of 1950, or even 1990. Many Europeans seem to already view America as ideologically alien and thus view the relationship as totally transactional. It would be like expressing gratitude to your ISP for providing internet service after you sign a contract and pay your bill. Trump's more transactional approach aligns with this new reality, and so it's probably a good thing -- unless you're an American progressive, in which case, since you hold religious beliefs in common with European progressives, you probably view this development as needless division and infighting amongst enlightened nations that diverts time and energy away from pushing back the ever-encroaching forces of ignorance and oppression. That said, I sense a rift between American and European progressives as well, mostly in complaints from more traditional European socialists who see American "woke" progressivism as an irrelevant distraction from material problems and/or a form of American political and cultural imperialism. So perhaps even the bonds between progressives on either sides of the Atlantic are fraying and will not be strong enough to maintain a US-Euro relationship beyond the merely transactional.
This explanation is certainly too pat, and there's more nuance to be explored, but do you think this is more or less the direction in which things are heading?
Since no one has mentioned it yet, I will discuss my hobby horse and mention that because of mass immigration the American population is only a little more than half ethnically European and that share is rapidly falling. It's silly to expect that such a country will maintain such close ties with Europe when American demographics are rapidly shifting towards becoming a group of people who see Europe as the people who oppressed their ancestors with colonialism. The American right is probably going to continue its tendency towards isolationism while the American left will gradually become anti-Europe in a milder version of the way it has already become anti-Israel.
I agree with the trajectory, but I disagree with your claim on what's causing it, at least from the American perspective. I think it has more to do with some combination of a geopolitical changing of the tides and the fairly obvious cultural suicide that Europe has allowed to occur with their mass immigration.
The mass immigration is a symptom not the cause.
Are you talking about developed countries' dwindling populations and their attempts at alleviating that problem?
Yes
We probably agree on what the cause is. My emphasis on their when talking about Europeans is due to the type of immigration rather than me casting any blame at them for trying to fix their impending demographic problem. In the U.S., much of our immigration comes from Latin America which is largely Christian, with cultural values that overlap with American society. Europe on the other hand has imported large numbers of immigrants from cultures with very different legal, religious, and social norms. Both the U.S. and Europe face this degenerative population disease, but Europe’s prescription has made assimilation much harder and fueled deeper cultural fragmentation.
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