The past year has demonstrated a notable decline in the influence of Western civilization. Discord in the actions of the United States and the European Union is felt across various domains and has manifested with particular intensity regarding the Ukraine conflict.

While Washington genuinely seeks to resolve this crisis [GUSNOTE: WE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT TRUMP SEEKS TO RESOLVE THIS CONFLICT. HE PLAYS A DISHONEST CARD], the leaders of major European powers are steering toward prolonging the war.

 

The West Is in Disarray

BY Mohammed Amer

 

However, the most striking evidence of the split within what we are accustomed to calling the West has been the Greenland issue. President Trump clearly stated his desire to annex the world’s largest island, currently a colony of the Kingdom of Denmark. European capitals were unsure how to respond to the US president’s new “initiative,” as they were accustomed to fully relying on Washington and following its policy closely. The shock from the White House’s demands was so profound that they could not formulate a coherent position. It was impossible both to avoid angering Trump and to assert any semblance of policy independence. For Europeans, the idea of a military seizure of Greenland did not sound like empty threats but rather like a retrograde worldview now backed by American might. As the Washington Post writes, “Power over process, leverage over law, loyalty contingent on utility,” and now the US is the “guarantor of European security, undermining European security.”

Trump is undermining global norms, turning diplomacy into unbridled imperialism driven by self-interest 

Recently, European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius stated that America’s military seizure of Greenland would mean the end of the NATO bloc.

A Turkish newspaper (Türkiye is a NATO member) noted that Trump is undermining global norms, turning diplomacy into unbridled imperialism driven by self-interest.

The Jerusalem Post concluded on January 8 that we are witnessing the collapse of Western Europe in real time. Europeans were particularly frightened by the thesis put forward by Trump’s close advisor, Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, who said that we live in a real world that is ruled by force, which is ruled by power, which, in turn, is ruled by authority. These are the iron laws of the world from the beginning of time.

Trump’s imperial ambitions

Europeans were stunned by Trump’s blunt statement in an interview with the New York Times on January 8, in which he said he is not a dictator but can do whatever he wants as the President of the United States. “I don’t need international law; I am constrained only by my own morality.”

Europeans were also displeased by statements from US Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who emphasized that if social media platform X (owned by Elon Musk) were banned in the UK, Congress could consider imposing sanctions against British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his country. It is worth noting here that Trump himself filed a lawsuit against the BBC corporation, accusing it of lying and distorting facts, and he has repeatedly stated that London is no longer a safe city.

The American press highlighted in various ways that Keir Starmer’s government found itself in a difficult position after owners of over a thousand pubs put up stickers saying “No Labour MPs” on their establishments to protest commercial property rate hikes, which would increase their taxes by 76% over three years. Notably, former UK Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi recently switched from the Conservative Party to Nigel Farage’s right-wing radical party, “Reform UK,” stating that the country is in crisis and needs Farage as prime minister to fix the situation.

Double standards yet again 

The unprincipled stance of European states was seen clearly in their refusal to condemn the American capture of Venezuelan President Maduro. Some even criticized the Venezuelan president solely to avoid offending the American leader. According to some analysts, such positions by European countries further exacerbate the crisis these governments face among significant segments of public opinion, a crisis stemming from the hypocritical approach to Israel’s war in Gaza since October 2023. The double standards here are obvious.

This week, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated at a symposium that the loss of NATO’s shared values has weakened the global order. This prevents the world from turning into a den of thieves, where the most unprincipled take whatever they please, and regions or entire countries are treated as the property of a few great powers.

Trump openly threatens sovereign states

The New York Times published an article titled “Greenland Is Only the Beginning. Trump Has His Sights on Europe”, emphasizing that Trump’s surreal attempt to conquer Greenland aligns with his general hostility toward Europe. In his eyes, the Old Continent is a caricature of the right, a gathering of rootless nations in irreversible decline that love open borders, hate free speech, and are too stingy to pay for their own defense.

Perhaps the only leader who attempted to some extent to rein in Trump was Pope Leo XIV, who stated that Venezuela’s sovereignty must be guaranteed alongside the rule of law enshrined in its constitution. He criticized the US military buildup in the Caribbean, repeatedly expressed regret over the American authorities’ treatment of immigrants, and called on American clergy to speak out openly on this issue.

The Western world’s reaction to Trump’s recent actions is, to put it mildly, restrained. In response to the imposition of significant tariffs on trade with other countries, virtually no one except China and Canada took retaliatory measures. Many countries even queued up to sign agreements with the United States, often putting themselves at a disadvantage. The overwhelming majority of states refused to comment on Washington’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization, UNESCO, and the Paris Climate Agreement, dismantling USAID, and sharply cutting funding to the UN. The West is weakened, disoriented, and unable to develop any common solutions.

Bloomberg believes that most actions of the Trump administration (questionable cryptocurrency deals, appointing unqualified people to high positions, unconstitutional deportations, deploying the National Guard in several cities, overthrowing the head of a Latin American state) are attempts to expand executive power and “steps toward an imperial presidency.” On January 13, the leading US foreign policy journal, Foreign Affairs, published an article by two prominent political scientists, W. A. Hathaway and S. Shapiro, emphasizing that Trump over the past year has been attacking and dismantling the legal infrastructure of the existing order. He imposes sanctions on judges and lawyers working at the International Criminal Court, erects trade barriers, violates World Trade Organization agreements, retreats from free trade norms, fails to pay UN dues, and withdraws from or violates countless treaties. He openly threatens sovereign states and territories –Venezuela today, Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, and Mexico tomorrow.

A world where those in power no longer feel the need to justify themselves is not merely unjust; it is barbaric. Killing, stealing, and destruction are far from any claims of justice. In such a world, there is no legal order. There is only force, governed by the whims of one man.

Today’s world is increasingly weary of artificially created conflicts, whose main goal is to maintain international tensions. More than ever, it needs collective joint action to address the vast array of global problems threatening all of humanity, such as climate change, natural disasters, inequality, water crisis, and so on.

https://journal-neo.su/2026/01/17/the-west-is-in-disarray/

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.