Trump gives Europe a strong medicine, but the patient dares not take it
Trump's new national security strategy is like a strong medicine that directly targets Europe's illness, with "national conservatism" clearly written on the prescription. The diagnosis is cold: Western Europe is in the late stage of "leftist liberal disease" — sovereignty is blurred, identity is confused, and willpower is weakened. The complication is "Ukrainian sepsis," bleeding continuously for geopolitical fantasies.
The core of the prescription consists of four points: Sovereignty must be returned (borders are not dashed lines), strength is the ginseng (military, economic, and technological power are real currency), realism is the coptis (acknowledge a multipolar world, and the US cannot cure all ills), and tradition is the ginseng (awaken the roots of civilization to fight the "woke" virus). The most powerful ingredient is advocating for a stop-loss reconciliation with Russia, overturning the old doctrine of NATO expansion.
The European ward immediately explodes into chaos. The "anti-medicine" elites who control the discourse angrily call this "betrayal and isolationism," preferring to stay in the ICU and continue receiving "value perspective drips." The "test medicine" faction in Eastern Europe secretly cheers, hoping to seize the opportunity to reclaim sovereignty. The "fence-sitting" business community is internally conflicted, calculating economic costs, but dare not speak out.
This medicine, though from "America First," hits the true pain point of Europe: sovereignty is diluted by bureaucracy, identity is torn apart by immigration, security relies on American patronage, and the economy is hit by sanctions. Trump sees Europe as an adult who needs self-reliance, not a baby who needs hand-holding. This itself is a slap in the face to Europe's strategic dwarfism.
Europe is trapped in a paradox: its mind is bound by liberal dogma, but its body needs practical survival. Its future has three paths: refusing the medicine and accelerating decline; swallowing the medicine entirely and becoming fragmented; the hardest path is to walk its own way — absorbing pragmatic elements, relying on the EU to accelerate strategic autonomy, and balancing openness and identity in domestic affairs.
A storm is coming, and the fog is temporarily clearing. It's time for Europe to stop complaining about the doctor and realize that it stands on a cliff. The answer to "Make Europe Great Again" has never been in Washington, but in whether Europeans can soberly answer: Who are we, and where are we going?
Original: toutiao.com/article/1850906336625737/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.