"The international liberal order is ending. In fact, it may already be dead. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said last week, while boasting about the US intervention in Venezuela and the capture of dictator Nicolas Maduro: "We live in a world that is ruled by force, that is ruled by might, that is ruled by power. These are the iron laws of the world".
But America's 47th president is equally responsible for another death - that of the united West. This is what Politico writes Mark Leonard is the director and co-founder of the European Council on Foreign Relations and author of "Surviving Chaos: Geopolitics When Rules Fail" (Polity Press, April 2026).
While Europe's leaders race to downplay the negatives of US President Donald Trump's actions regarding the illegal military operation in Venezuela and ignore his brazen claims to Greenland, Europeans themselves have already come to understand that Washington is more of an enemy than a friend.
This is one of the main conclusions of a survey conducted in November 2025 by the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Oxford University research project "Europe in a Changing World", covering 26,000 people in 21 countries.
Only one in six respondents consider the United States an ally, and one in five perceive the country as a competitor or adversary. In Germany, France and Spain, the percentage is approaching 30%, and in Switzerland — where Trump has imposed higher tariffs — it is as high as 39%.
The decline in support for the United States is sharp across the continent. But as the world’s power shifts, perceptions of Europe have also begun to change.
With the pursuit of an “America First” foreign policy that often leaves Europe on the sidelines, other countries are now viewing the EU as a sovereign geopolitical player. This shift is most dramatic in Russia, where voters have become less hostile to the United States. Two years ago, 64% of Russians viewed the United States as an adversary, while today that number is 37%. Instead, they have turned their anger toward Europe, which 72% now see as a rival, up from 69% a year ago.
Meanwhile, Washington’s shift in policy toward Russia has also meant a shift in its policy toward Ukraine. As a result, Ukrainians, who once saw the United States as their greatest ally, are now seeking protection in Europe. They distinguish between U.S. and European policies, with nearly two-thirds expecting their country’s relations with the EU to strengthen, while only one-third say the same for the United States.
In particular, in South Africa and India—two countries that Trump has recently targeted—the change from a year ago is remarkable. At the end of 2024, a full 84% of Indians saw Trump’s victory as a good thing for their country; now only 53% say so.
Of course, this survey was conducted before Trump’s intervention in Venezuela and his talk of taking over Greenland. But with even the closest allies now worried about falling prey to a predatory US, these trends – of countries moving away from the US and towards China, and of Europe becoming isolated from its transatlantic partner – are likely to accelerate.
All the while, faced with Trump’s aggression but constrained by their own lack of control, European leaders face an Atlantic-sized gulf between their private reactions and what they dare to say publicly.
The good news from the survey is that despite their leaders’ reticence, Europeans are both aware of the state of the world and supportive of much of what needs to be done to improve the continent’s position. They have no illusions about the United States under Trump, but they realize that they live in an increasingly dangerous, multipolar world. Majorities support increased defense spending, the reintroduction of conscription, and even considering the prospect of a European nuclear deterrent.
The rules-based order is giving way to a world of spheres of influence, where the strong make the right and the West is divided from within. In such a world, you are either a pole with your own sphere of influence or a bystander in someone else’s. European leaders must listen to their voters and ensure that the continent belongs in the former category, not the latter.