Germany, European Defense and the Musk-Trump Administration

The Musk-Trump Administration has made a re-evaluation of the European countries’ (EU plus Britain) an urgent issue. This is a good background report. Including a reminder of why “Germany is rearming itself” will always be a bit of an ominous concept to much of the world. (1)



It also provides a reminder of what a tremendous opportunity the US and Europe (including Russia) missed after 1989 to establish a much more secure and long-lasting peace.

Haaretz columnist Alon Pinkas lists the kinds of questions many countries are asking themselves right now:

A) Conclude that the United States is no longer a dependable ally.

B) Realize that the United States is no longer a model democracy and no longer has any pretense of being "the leader of the free world."

C) Gather that the United States no longer cares about alliances and its allies.

D) Think that it would be wise to hedge [your] national strategy and be willing to get closer to China.

E) Consider that perhaps your country should develop a military nuclear capability, just as an insurance policy.

F) All of the above.

If you haven't already chosen answer "F," don't worry – you will in a few months. (2)

He puts it into the larger trend which the so-called unipolar moment in which the US was the single, dominant, hegemonic world power. That situation began with 1989 and lasted for two-to-three decades, ending around 2011, if we count the Obama Administration “pivot to Asia” (3) which made containment of China the prime US foreign policy strategy goal. Or 2019, if one prefers to the symbolism of the first Trump Administration and its spastic, disjointed foreign policy approach.

Pinkas deserves a Pulitzer Prize for coming up with the memorable description of Vice President Donald Trump as “anarchy in human form." (4) He put the phrase in quotes, but I assume it’s his own concoction.

Between President Musk’s TechBro apartheid dystopian vision and VP Trump’s scramble to cash in on the Presidency as much as he possibly can, we can expect a very disjointed US approach to foreign policy for the next four years.

Israel and Ukraine are two major concerns that will tell us a lot about just how much of a mess the Musk-Trump wrecking crew and its twentysomething brownshirt crew of computer hackers will make in foreign policy.

The European Council on Foreign Relations recently published a paper on the international impressions the new Musk-Trump Administration is creating. (5)

Notes:

(1) Why Germany isn’t leading Europe’s defense, and who’s going to do it instead? DW News YouTube channel 02/08/2025. <https://youtu.be/NRNNtyMKa7Y?si=H6OBIZ3LulFgDrb7> (Accessed: 2025-08-02).

(2) Pinkas, Alon (2025): Trump's Intimidation of U.S. Allies Is Creating a Dangerous, Unstable World. Haaretz 02/09/2025. <https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2025-02-09/ty-article/.premium/trumps-intimidation-of-u-s-allies-is-creating-a-dangerous-unstable-world/00000194-ea1c-d0d3-a1d6-ef9e64240000?gift=b7fbb0e5473d4d8887e766c9c044b1bf> (Accessed: 2025-08-02).

(3) Liberthal, Kenneth (2011): The American Pivot to Asia. Brookings Institute 12/21/2011. <https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-american-pivot-to-asia/> (Accessed: 2025-10-02).

(4) Pinkas, Alon (2025): What Could Happen When Unpredictable Trump Meets Arch manipulator Netanyahu? Haaretz 02/03/2025. <https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-02-03/ty-article/.premium/what-could-happen-when-unpredictable-trump-meets-arch-manipulator-netanyahu/00000194-cc74-d533-a3b6-cd7f79f80000?gift=f15faa5c0e974305b2677b1571dd4365> (Accessed: 2025-05-02).

(5) Ash, Timothy Garton & Krastev, Ivan & Leonard, Mark (2025): Alone in a Trumpian world: The EU and global public opinion after the US elections. European Council on Foreign Relations 01/15/2025. <https://ecfr.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Alone-in-a-Trumpian-world-The-EU-and-global-public-opinion-after-the-US-elections.pdf> (Accessed: 2025-08-02).