The visit of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to China last week left an allusion to a shift in the partnership between the U.S. and the European countries. The U.S. and its allies have long cemented the alliance under a tie of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which aims to shield the involved countries’ national security and the Atlantic Ocean from potential military and political threats.
The prolonged war between Ukraine and Russia was a milestone that raised concerns over the U.S. leadership, though. So far, the United States, in 2022, supported Ukraine with roughly $115 billion, an equivalent of 2 percent of the federal government’s entire expense last year. Despite the indirect support and several announcements by President Biden undercutting Vladimir Putin's disastrous intention of war, the voice of missed-out support of direct military force was put on the table globally. Criticism of the U.S. absence of explicit military action surfaced, placing a question mark among the countries that heavily hinge on the dispatched U.S. military and several treaties as an effective means of national security.
The U.S., as a so-called “Good Cop” on the global stage, has long prioritized partnership with its allies and has been directly involved in any given circumstances whenever chaotic events take place that poses threats to Western society. World War Ⅱ was a turnaround in global leadership, during which the hegemony transferred from the European countries to the U.S., leaving behind the peak growth of European countries that proliferated from the vast colonization. The debut of the rising star was then disrupted by another emerging power -–the Soviet Union—which eventually ended up in the triumph of Western society after the collapse of the vast entity tied to Marxism. The U.S., after a while, solidified its position as the “Superman” in the world by subsidizing a large amount of money to the Third World and having its troop dispatched to several spots where the geographical stake is high. The dominance remained unchallenged until the steep rise of China, which has increasingly ramped up its economic and military power. Entering the twenty-first century, China saw aggressive growth in GDP, taking full advantage of its competitive labor costs and product prices, ultimately contributing to the country’s role on a global stage today –the second most powerful nation in the world that poses an unprecedented threat to the U.S. leadership.
What Macron’s visit reflects is simple: the solid position as a leader of the globe the U.S. has long enjoyed is in check. The charming French president was in excellent care during his visit to China, closing several commercial deals, including the two countries’ joint “development of civilian nuclear power stations, the transition to carbon-neutral economies, sales of Europe’s Airbus, and the promotion of pork exports,” according to the New York Times report last week. Despite the surging criticism regarding Macron’s indulged and unannounced move, the visit reflects that the bond with the U.S. can be volatile if the rim or no incentives are provided.
Since the Trump administration, the slogan “America First” has become a megaphone that questioned America’s exceeding involvement in several countries that caused harm domestically. The voice of nationalism rose, and the trillion dollars spent maintaining the partnership was questioned in public. Mr. Trump, as he ended up taking over the Oval Office, was quick to call for the defense cost that goes into NATO under review. A region with a high stake was also subjected to the former U.S. president’s claim, as can be seen in a series of Mr. Trump’s demands for re-negotiation of the defense cost between South Korea and the U.S., the big brother that we used to know of was gone, and the backlash against the U.S. slowly rose.
The new president from the democratic party was remarkable with Mr. Biden’s first speech in which he insisted that “America’s back.” In the early stage of the Biden administration, the words “allies” and “partners” were often observed whenever the president held a press conference. However, unlike what Mr. Biden promised, the U.S. alliance was put in question as the U.S. military’s shocking withdrawal from Afghanistan occurred in 2021. The sudden departure left Afghanistan's most conservative entity, the Taliban, in control. The incident is famously illustrated in the photo in which several refugees are hanging on the last evacuation plane.
Put together with the U.S.'s minor involvement in the Ukraine War, the country’s soft power has plummeted, beckoning a move of increasing independence among those who are tied with America to a vast extent. While Macron’s visit to China is primarily criticized for his arbitrary action to influence his constituents in France (France is going through a large protest regarding Marcron’s bill to extend the retirement age from 62 to 64), the incident implies that countries will choose independently who they are going to be within such a way that favors their interest the most. If the U.S. is up to keeping China in check, the nation will have to suggest what it can offer that outsells the reason not to team up with China.
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