Transatlantic Drift: Analysis of the United States of America’s Disengagement from Europe in the Second Trump Administration

Transatlantic Drift:

Analysis of the United States of America’s Disengagement from Europe in the Second Trump Administration

by Scott Mackie

28 February 2025

In this paper we discuss:

• How the Trump administration is accelerating its pivot away from Europe;
• Pete Hegseth’s declaration on the European position vis a vis the war in Ukraine
• The EU’s and NATO’s response to Hegseth’s remarks;
• How the US’s pivot to the Indo-Pacific risks creating a two-tier NATO;
• Why the US engaging unilaterally with Russia-excluding European allies-undermines NATO unity; and
• Europe’s crucial choice: increasing defence spending and assume a leadership role in security, or risk NATO fragmentation.

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