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Europe cannot hide from the fact that the Trump administration has bullied it into concessions that look and smell a lot like submission. The most powerful multilateral free trade block in the world has failed to stand up for trade when it matters most. Europe entered the summer with the prospect of a potential trans-Atlantic divorce, the future of Ukraine, NATO, and trade all up in the air. With their beach holidays beckoning, European leaders can now take a sigh of relief.

Trump’s tariff threats on India are not so much a moral escalation of the trade war, but a negotiating tactic to extort even more business deals, also from Russia. The reality TV show called ‘Donald Trump, The Sequel’ continues apace. After the announcement of "Liberation Day" in early April, the world has now entered a new era of a near universal cold trade war, with America as the key instigator. The arbitrariness and the ego of the American president determine what passes

In a world of growing disorder, the European project is now about hard power. Whether we like it or not, we need to reinvent the purpose of European integration or risk being divided, marginalized or both. The 9th of May marked the European Union’s official ‘Europe day’. This celebration of ‘peace and unity in Europe’ stands in stark contrast with the world beyond. Europe is waking up to fact that it sits strategically alone: Russia is an enemy, China an adversary as well as