The US election and Europe’s existential dilemmas

Europe faces two major dilemmas following the latest political developments in the United States. The first concerns the role it will choose to play in the escalating tension between China and the US.

The adversarial nature of relations between these two countries threatens to drag Europe - and indeed the entire world - into a new period of uncontrolled geopolitical tension. What will Europe's stance be in such an event? There is no doubt that Europe's influence over the US has declined steadily over the years. But does that also mean that Europe will choose to obediently follow America's lead, or could the new political cycle in the United States encourage a more substantial effort toward European political emancipation? Given the lack of political leadership within the EU, as its two most influential members, France and Germany, struggle with domestic internal political...