In light of the changes going on in the international system, and the diminishing unipolarity of the US, which used to dominate the world politically, militarily, and economically since the 1990s, before China and Russia (the Eastern camp) started climbing the international system’s ladder and threatening the standing of the US as a global leader, we see that competition is not limited to the relations of the Eastern and Western blocs, but is also present within the Western bloc, with the rise of the potential second pole represented in the European Union as one political and economic bloc, which caught the eye of the most optimistic analysts, as a parallel pole that provides a counterbalance the US.
Europe has historical, economic, political, and military relations and agreements with the US, however, they were always accompanied by European sensitivities to the US domination over the affairs of Europe.
These relations were always governed by both attraction and repulsion, to the extent that the observer finds that the more European countries seek to escape the shadow of the US over NATO, the more it finds themselves back under the US’s control.
The new American missile defense shield is a great example of this US military hegemony over Europe in light of undisputable security facts.
Even though the objectives of the new missile defense shield are not related to European security, and threaten to reignite the Cold War conflicts with Russia, Europe still acquiesced to the conditions of the US.
However, the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, and the escalation of the energy crisis in European countries, touched on sensitive issues regarding Europe, with European countries presenting an evaluation of the Ukrainian crisis, abandoning escalatory tones prevalent in the American dialogue, and adopting a new strategy representing in trying to play the role of an intermediary, with many European countries from France to Germany centering their political discourse on opening new channels of dialogue to solve the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which is a kind of challenge to the escalatory American strategy.
Observers of American priorities in dealing with the effects of the Russian- Ukrainian war quickly notice that they are different from the priorities of European countries which mainly focus on energy security.
Furthermore, European countries see that the US does not share these priorities, which inflames European sensitivities towards Washington even more.
In addition, German Chancellor Olaf Schultz’s visit to China, and his announcement of a new strategy for dealing with China at this time, can be considered a sign of potentially radical changes in relations between European countries and the US, meaning the US’s poor handling of European priorities regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war caused a rift in the Western bloc, allowing European sensitivities to surface after laying dormant for many years.
