OPINION:
Hindsight isn’t always 20/20. It’s reassuring to recall the Cold War as a time when the nations of the Free World (we capitalized the term back then) were united in a great struggle against communism. The reality wasn’t quite so neat.
For example, in 1966, Charles de Gaulle withdrew France from NATO’s integrated military command, expelled NATO headquarters and forces from French soil and pursued an independent nuclear deterrent and foreign policy. France officially rejoined NATO only in 2009.
In the mid-1970s, there was serious concern that NATO member Portugal might go communist. Also in that era, the Italian Communist Party often won a large share of the vote in national elections, peaking at almost 35% in 1976.
I’m resurfacing these memories because we’re now in a second cold war, and U.S. relations with many of its allies are seriously strained.
Eight years have passed since eminent historian Niall Ferguson first recognized that Cold War II had begun, with China occupying the strategic space formerly held by the Soviet Union.
The People’s Republic of China is more sophisticated and capable than the Soviet Union ever was. Plus, it’s backed by post-Soviet Russia, ruled by Vladimir Putin. On Feb. 4, 2022, Mr. Putin and China’s ruler, Xi Jinping, announced a partnership with “no limits.” The dictators of Iran and North Korea now revolve around this axis as well.
European leaders have responded to this major geostrategic development fecklessly, if at all.
Let me acknowledge one exception: Last week, the European Union designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization and moved toward implementing new sanctions.
Better late than never. The French had dragged their feet but changed their collective mind after Iran’s theocrats massacred tens of thousands of unarmed Iranian civilians. The executions haven’t ended.
Interesting to note: Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, responded to the designation by threatening “consequences” — which either means less Caspian caviar for Parisian restaurants or more regime agents murdering more Europeans — all to demonstrate that Iran’s rulers are not terrorists! Capisci?
Has President Trump contributed to the souring of relations between the United States and Europe? No doubt. As I wrote in this space last week, a deal to use Greenland to detect, deter and, if necessary, defeat threats from China and Russia surely could have been achieved without humiliating Denmark, which holds sovereignty over Greenland.
On the other hand, why didn’t the Danes beat Mr. Trump to the punch by perceiving the emerging threat and proposing Greenland-based defense upgrades?
What about the Canadians? Is the High North not in their ’hood?
Oh, Canada! Prime Minister Mark Carney last month visited Beijing, where he waxed lyrical about a dawning “new world order.” From China, he went to Qatar and then on to the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he declared that Canada now has “new strategic partnerships with China and Qatar.”
I guess he is untroubled by Beijing’s ongoing genocide of Tibetans and Uyghurs and by Doha’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood. If China and Qatar are to be Canada’s strategic partners, then perhaps the U.S. needs one more Big Beautiful Wall.
That said, let’s acknowledge a Trump own-goal. Mr. Carney won the 2025 Canadian election largely because the American president referred to Mr. Carney as the “governor” of what should be America’s 51st state.
Mr. Carney then vowed to stand up to Mr. Trump. That eroded the strength of Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who, I believe, would have been a reliable American ally.
I have space to discuss one more unreliable ally.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer knows that Xi Jinping violated the treaty Beijing concluded with London over Hong Kong, that Jimmy Lai, a British national whose only crime is speaking out for freedom, has been imprisoned for more than five years, and that three Hong Kong citizens are now on trial for organizing candlelight vigils to remember Beijing’s 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square.
Yet last month, Mr. Starmer agreed to allow Mr. Xi to establish an enormous embassy and, presumably, a spy headquarters in London. Only after that, it has been reported, did Mr. Xi allow Mr. Starmer to pay a visit to Beijing, where they also agreed last week to develop a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Mr. Starmer also is eager to surrender British sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, which hosts a strategic Anglo-American military base. Beijing stands to benefit.
One more item: Mr. Starmer has so far refused to allow Britain to join the European Union in designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
Discouraging as all this is, I argue that Mr. Trump and the rest of us should not write off Britain, Canada and other wayward allies.
To fix what’s broken requires not so much the art of the deal as the art of persuasion.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who recently said, “If anyone thinks … the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming. You can’t.”
Our allies in Europe and Asia also need to understand that if an axis led by the most powerful communist party in history prevails, soon there will be no Free World, just satellites and supplicants.
If I could bend President Trump’s ear for a minute, I would argue that America is better off with allies than without allies.
Although the free riders — many of whom aren’t growing their economies, have succumbed to climate hysteria and refuse to control illegal immigration — deserve his whiplash, those demonstrating a willingness to burden-share in the great struggle of the 21st century would benefit from his encouragement and perhaps the occasional caress.
• Clifford D. May is the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a columnist for The Washington Times and host of the “Foreign Podicy” podcast.
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