Washington is once again dreaming of rising from the ashes of Europe

On March 5, 1946, when Winston Churchill spoke at the Iron Curtains at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, covering the Baltic Sea in northern Europe to the Adriatic Sea in the south, it became clear that Europe could no longer stand on its own two feet. Will not have his feet. A pile of bones and ashes that was not even worth looking at. This was the reality that Europe faced in the first year or two after World War II.

But Western Europe was facing another nightmare, and that was the pressure of the Soviet Union, which sought to expand its sphere of influence into Western Europe. All of these factors went hand in hand so that the Green Continent could no longer even maintain its shaky global position.

Britain, meanwhile, had almost parted ways with Western Europe and formed a full-fledged alliance in the form of the “Atlantic Charter” with the United States. The rest of Europe also joined the Atlantic axis. The implementation of initiatives such as the Marshall Assistance Initiative and the formation of the NATO Alliance to defend Western Europe against the potential threat of the Soviet Union made this bilateral dependence an organic process.

Although some European politicians, such as the Frenchman Charles de Gaulle, saw such a practice as contrary to European freedom, the reality was that the global situation had left no way for the Europeans.

It took years for Europe to gradually break free from this dependence. The formation of the European Union, the creation of a single currency, and the recent aspiration to form a united European army had formed in everyone the mind that the years after 1945 would not be repeated.

But something like that seems to be happening in a different way.

Regardless of what is happening in Ukraine right now, some are reporting the loss of half-European independence from their Atlantic ally; The event is the heaviest blow after the election and the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union.

* history repeats itself

Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine can be considered the most serious historical change in the European security system since the collapse of the Soviet Union. After years, a force outside the EU is shaping the borders of the Green Continent.

Although many warn of a possible Russian attack on the heart of the European Union, especially after Finland and Sweden join the NATO alliance, the reality is that the Green Continent is once again under the shadow of the United States. A shadow that may not be as obvious and painful as it was in the years after World War II, but its traces can be seen in everything from energy to militarism.

It is as if history is repeating itself and the Yankees have taken on the role of helping angels.

Weapons, the most important commodity of the Americans

The first thing that weighs heavily on Washington’s shadow over European capitals is weapons. The outbreak of the Ukrainian war in the most optimistic case creates an attractive market for weapons. European countries are thirsty for weapons, and in the meantime, there is not a day that a new news about this is not published.

Germany’s largest arms program is in federal Germany, where the Social Democrat government is talking about a € 100 billion arms program, which is Germany’s largest military equipment program since World War II and is the weapon of choice for Americans.

Despite the armaments capabilities of European companies, American armaments have remained superior to them. The European aviation industry, for example, still lacks an operational stealth fighter, while at least hundreds of American F-35 fighter jets are in service. Relying on the purchase of F-35 fighter jets, Britain is equipping two aircraft carriers, and Eastern European countries are seeking to replace their old aircraft with American companies.

The production plan of the 6th generation fighter, which is being jointly designed between France and Germany, is years away from achieving an operational fighter, and this is not something that other European countries can wait for.

The result of such a process is Europe’s arms dependence on the United States. Even in the meantime, the US military presence in Eastern Europe is strengthening, and it is unclear when thousands of US troops will evacuate the continent’s eastern borders. Perhaps the culmination of Europe’s nightmare is the re-establishment of nuclear weapons on its borders. As when nearly a thousand Russian SS-20 ballistic missiles and American Pershing targeted the soil on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and it was possible for the continent to disappear from the Earth at any time.

* The United States seeks the complete expulsion of Russia from the European energy market

Energy is another area that Americans have been trying to conquer for a long time, and now the conditions seem to be better than ever.

Former United States President Donald Trump once told the Germans why American troops should protect your territory while you import your energy supplies from Russia.

Now it seems that this is happening in reverse. The Russia-Ukraine war has eroded Europe’s confidence in Russia for the foreseeable future. Biden can now easily send thousands of American troops to Europe and demand a halt to gas supplies from Russia. Naturally, American energy companies are the first alternative energy supplier.

According to the German Ministry of Economy, the country intends to reduce its demand for gas imported from Russia to 10% of current imports by 2024. Well, the main question is how it will be possible to fill this gap?

The answer is clear. American companies have long been persuading Europe to buy LNG from the United States, and now Europeans are willing to do so.

Several floating stations are currently being built across the Baltic Sea and in the north to drain liquefied natural gas from American ships. The terminals will be used to discharge liquefied natural gas produced in the United States to allow European gas independence from Russia.

Such a plan has much in common with the big goals of the Americans in the first place, but the question is whether Russia will be ready to give back its share of the European gas market or not.

* Beyond confronting Russia

Examples can be found in other areas, such as intelligence battles and cyber-cooperation, but the issue is more than just confronting Russian power.

The Americans seem to be rearranging themselves against China, the most important future threat to the current world order; A row that once again revolves around the Anglo-Saxon countries. As in Southeast Asia, the Agus Pact has taken on this task. The Americans have been talking about the formation of the Beijing-Moscow axis for a long time. From the beginning, the Americans hoped that some inherent differences between the two sides would eventually lead to the Moscow-Beijing rift not allowing such an alliance, but now the Ukraine war shows the opposite.

Despite constant threats from the United States, China remains a major buyer of Russian oil and gas. In the first quarter of this year, Russian gas exports to China grew by nearly 60 percent, and Moscow-Beijing trade was steadily increasing.

Few believe that Xi Jinping will sacrifice his long-standing friendship with Putin for the sake of Ukraine. Washington, on the other hand, sees the Ukraine war as a turning point; The turning point is that China has to clarify its position on the relationship with the West, and in the current situation, Beijing’s response does not seem to be to the liking of the West. Thus, at the same time as planning a new US strategy against China, the government should seek to form a more serious coalition against the Beijing-Moscow axis. In the meantime, Europe will be the best partner for Americans, as it was during the Cold War.

In this way, Washington will have a strong ally in the face of continued Chinese power. Europe, on the other hand, must forget its joint economic plans with China, such as extending the “one-lane road” to Europe. It is natural that a country like Italy, which is dependent on gas imported from the United States, can not defend its contract to invest billions of dollars in China in its ports.

Of course, the idea of ​​Europe completely sacrificing all its trade interests with China to the United States is a bit far-fetched, but the current situation in Europe and the war in Ukraine have made everything possible.

The Europeans, and especially the Eastern European countries, are still afraid of Russia’s re-occupation of the Green Continent and are willing to make any concessions to the Americans in order to confront the Russians. Meanwhile, some countries, such as France, whose politicians are still concerned about independence from the United States, are not able to oppose this trend.

A new world order has begun to take shape, and this time, as in 1945, everything can begin in Europe and its ruins.