Is the USA letting Europe down?

The fear of a Donald Trump victory has turned into hysteria in Europe, says Eric Gujer at Reichmuth & Co Lecture No. 25, which he gave at the University of Lucerne in the run-up to the US presidential election on October 30, 2024. Even if Kamala Harris is elected, nothing will change significantly for Europeans in terms of the problems and challenges in relations with the USA. The times in which the USA guaranteed Europe’s security without being asked and as a matter of course are finally over, says the editor-in-chief of the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”. In addition, the USA will no longer be able to enforce the rules of the United Nations internationally to the same extent as it did between 1990 and 2020, because the USA is no longer the only world power as it was after the Cold War.

New powers such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are challenging the West. In the new multipolar world order, a new balance of power must first be found. Disorder currently prevails, which is particularly dangerous as there is no longer a hegemon. The West can no longer determine the rules of the new world order on its own, but must agree on a new basic consensus of coexistence with powers such as China or India, Gujer explained. For Europe, this means that it must take greater responsibility for its own defense. Switzerland will also have to invest more money in armaments, even though it benefits from the security of the European Union.