DONALD TRUMP WITHDRAWAL DOCTRINE

Author: Uri Friedman, Staff Writer at the at the Atlantic

Original Text has been edited

1. Withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate-Change Accord;
2. Exiting the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement
3. Reversing aspects of the U.S. opening toward Cuba
4. Ending American membership in UNESCO
5. Indicating that the renegotiation of the NAFTA with Canada and Mexico might conclude with the pact’s collapse
6. Signaled that it will decline to certify that the Iran nuclear agreement is in the interest of the United States, which prompt a debate in Congress that could ultimately lead to the demise of the accord.

A foreign-policy doctrine of withdrawal casts profound doubt on America’s commitment to the intricate international system that the United States helped create and nurture after World War II so that countries could collaborate on issues that transcend any one nation. If, for instance, the Trump administration decides to abandon a nuclear arms-control agreement that’s verifiably working—and that countries as diverse as America, Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, and Russia all managed to agree to—what does that say about whether the U.S. still subscribes to the view that the world can jointly and diplomatically resolve challenges as knotty as nuclear proliferation.

Several major powers have already signaled that the US no longer sets the agenda for rest of the world. The American retreat from the world stage allows other powers, namely China and Russia, to step into the vacuum it leaves behind. It's a big opportunity for Russia and China to flex their muscles in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East and possibly in Europe, which has a lot of NATO allies worried. How much confidence can other states, and that includes allies of the United States as well, have in the US to focus its attentions on negotiations for a sustained period of time, commit meaningfully to any deal and to actually implement it at home? By doing this the US places itself on the sidelines, watching the other powers. It lessens the ability of the United States not to participate but to lead events.

What Europe should do:

1. Play a bigger role in promoting liberal values. The US is fast losing credibility as the leader of the free world and the EU alone can take on that mantle. It must show why freedom always trumps authoritarian rule.
2. Take a lead in foreign and security policy. The demise of the US will shift the balance of power to the east. The EU will have to become more pragmatic and engaged, and work with the UK wherever possible. It cannot count on US support in all conflicts around the world. It must also continue to develop its own defence policy.
3. Take a stronger role in world trade. The Trump administration will not champion free trade. The EU, as the largest economy, should be aggressively promoting bilateral trade pacts. The EU-Japan trade deal  is an example of free trade agreements to come. By the same token, the EU should reach out to Mexico.

The US is handing over the key to world politics. There is a queue of candidates who would like to fill the global power vacuum,  not only China and Russia but as well India and maybe even Japan. The EU should seize the moment, grab the key and start taking a more prominent role on the world stage. None of its member states can do it alone, but together, the EU will be able to punch above its weight.