The rivalry between the United States and China are showing a comeback of great fights between powers. It is more classical than the Cold War between the United States and the USSR. The last one was an ideological one but the United States dominated the USSR in most areas. Today the context is very different as China is able to compete with the United States in many areas, from economics to military or technology. It is the reason why the European Union has to weight more in this context. It has the possibility to do it but has to be invest more in the future, and not rely as before on the protection of the United States which is a legacy of the Second World War.
Europe and the European Union institution benefited from the “American rainbow” during the Cold War. At this time the United States feared the invasion of the USSR of Europe, at least a too strong communist influence. But the difference of economical power was important and the United States could afford to use its army and “protect” the European Union. Today the context is very different and less favorable for the United States than it used to be during the Cold War. First the Asian economic power rose a great deal from the Second World War. At this time only Japan was a great economic power, while other Asian countries, like Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan… rose a great deal. The rise of China from the 1980’s was coupled with its huge population. It is the reason why Asia, more than the Western countries, is the leading economic continent in the world today.
It is the reason why, from the first mandate of Obama, the United States retreated partly from the Middle East and focused on its economic development and on the Pacific area. Europe was more and more out of the concern of the United States at the real new rivalry was against China. Obama did very cynical decisions like abandoning the Syrian people during the Arab Spring to completely concentrate on China. In this context Europe has to be more proactive. The United States won’t focus on Europe as before and during a great deal of years. Moreover Russia is not considered as the first threat by the United States ; moreover the implicit turning point of the Ukraine war is the fact Russia is now a “satellite” of China as the European Union is a “satellite” of the United States.
Putting the United States as an enemy like China is not relevant. Is China really an enemy? It is sure, concerning the democratic values, we are a lot closer to the United States. But it looks that China is more an opponent than a real enemy. It can be possible to cooperate on some subjects if some red lines are not crossed. For instance China wants to be a great actor in the environment and the European Union can cooperate on this subject. Cultural exchanges between two great civilizations can also be beneficial in both sides. But Europe has to be more autonomous and be more proactive in innovation, technology and its economic growth which depends too much on the American one. Moreover being more independent could be good news for the United States, not the Trumpist side but the really humanist one, because Europe would be seen as a real ally in case of conflict and not a minor partner to protect. Giving the weight of China today the European Union has a great opportunity to weight more.
Misfortunately France is not in the right way. For instance Germany decided to discuss the future of Europe with Italy and not France, which is quite symbolical of how they consider us today. But the European Union, which is more or less in the same level than before, can awake more. It is also a matter of better education, more focus on investment in new technologies, research, entrepreneurs. Concerning the soft power great investments can be made in the environmental sector or in culture, both sectors can be also very beneficial economically. China and overall Asian countries put a lot of investment in education and long term growth. Europe can inspire from its mentality and compete with this continent which made an extraordinary path in half a century.
The observer 