Donald Trump’s European trip signals the end of a unipolar world, and all must now fend for themselves

Anyone who enjoyed a tremendous Fifa World Cup tournament in Russia and Wimbledon tennis last weekend could not have been disappointed by US President Donald Trump’s stunning journey east to call on Nato, Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki and the Queen of England. 

The moment that the leader of the largest Western power called Europe a foe and seemed to prefer Russia to his Nato allies and his own staff has to be a historical turning point in America’s foreign policy as the world’s unipolar leader. Suddenly, the White House appears to view the whole of Eurasia (Europe, Russia, the Middle East and the Asian continent) as foes that treated America “unfairly” under the old order that America itself led.

What is going on? The answer lies in unravelling the common thread between Brexit, Europe’s own fractal points and the launch of the tariffs against US trading partners.

At the end of the second world war, when America emerged as the dominant military and economic power, it undertook the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, helping at the same time to dismantle colonialism and create the Bretton Woods institutions to promote trade, growth and development.