Why the America We Knew Is Gone*
The America of Lincoln, Wilson, Reagan or Bush no longer exists. We may think that Donald Trump will goof around a few more times and then the old, good America will return. It won’t — because it is no longer the child of Europe.
What remains of the “Euro-Atlantic community,” that somewhat hazy but cherished set of values guiding conscious citizens on both sides of the ocean? In their name, President Woodrow Wilson tried to organize Europe after World War I according to his famous “Fourteen Points” (one of which called for Poland’s independence). In their name, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt entered World War II in 1941, tipping the balance of power toward the Allies. After the victory, he continued Wilson’s unfinished work by creating the United Nations** and attempting to shape the post-war world. Guided by these values, Western Europeans joined America’s NATO***, committing their resources and hundreds of thousands of young men to defend freedom. For this reason, President Ronald Reagan called the Soviets an “evil empire,” deployed missiles and dismantled a system designed to crush those values.
But that America is gone. The values themselves — with freedom at their core — are older than any shipping lane or trans-Atlantic flight and sometimes older than America itself. For this great and powerful nation is the child of Europe: headstrong and occasionally rebellious, but still a child.
One can recall the contributions of generations and nations to what later became known as “European” values — and later, to satisfy the ambitions of the headstrong daughter, “Euro-Atlantic” values. Shortly after the Battle of Grunwald, Paweł Włodkowicz presented his treatise on state sovereignty at the Council of Constance. In 1831, artilleryman Wojciech Bogumił Jastrzębowski, instead of resting before the Battle of Olszynka Grochowska, drafted a constitution for a united Europe by night. This is only the Polish contribution; the full list of other nations’ efforts would be much longer. Today, these achievements are questioned on both sides of the Atlantic.
Will Donald Trump goof around a few more times and bring back the good old America?
The America of Abraham Lincoln, Wilson, Reagan or George Herbert Walker Bush is gone. We may only think that after Trump goofs around a few more times, it will return, but it won’t. It is no longer the child of Europe, not even a wayward one. The next generation of leaders includes Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected mayor of New York City, a Muslim born in Uganda; Sen. Ted Cruz, son of a Cuban refugee; and the youngest members of the House of Representatives: Puerto Rican Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Palestinian Rashida Tlaib.
*Editor's Note: This article is available in its original language with a paid subscription.
**Editor's Note: Though Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed an international association to Joseph Stalin in 1943, by the time the U.N. charter was signed, he had passed away.
***Editor's Note: Though the U.S. is an important member of NATO, 32 of its members are European, with two North American members, the U.S. and Canada.
What remains of the “Euro-Atlantic community,” that somewhat hazy but cherished set of values guiding conscious citizens on both sides of the ocean? In their name, President Woodrow Wilson tried to organize Europe after World War I according to his famous “Fourteen Points” (one of which called for Poland’s independence). In their name, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt entered World War II in 1941, tipping the balance of power toward the Allies. After the victory, he continued Wilson’s unfinished work by creating the United Nations** and attempting to shape the post-war world. Guided by these values, Western Europeans joined America’s NATO***, committing their resources and hundreds of thousands of young men to defend freedom. For this reason, President Ronald Reagan called the Soviets an “evil empire,” deployed missiles and dismantled a system designed to crush those values.
But that America is gone. The values themselves — with freedom at their core — are older than any shipping lane or trans-Atlantic flight and sometimes older than America itself. For this great and powerful nation is the child of Europe: headstrong and occasionally rebellious, but still a child.
One can recall the contributions of generations and nations to what later became known as “European” values — and later, to satisfy the ambitions of the headstrong daughter, “Euro-Atlantic” values. Shortly after the Battle of Grunwald, Paweł Włodkowicz presented his treatise on state sovereignty at the Council of Constance. In 1831, artilleryman Wojciech Bogumił Jastrzębowski, instead of resting before the Battle of Olszynka Grochowska, drafted a constitution for a united Europe by night. This is only the Polish contribution; the full list of other nations’ efforts would be much longer. Today, these achievements are questioned on both sides of the Atlantic.
Will Donald Trump goof around a few more times and bring back the good old America?
The America of Abraham Lincoln, Wilson, Reagan or George Herbert Walker Bush is gone. We may only think that after Trump goofs around a few more times, it will return, but it won’t. It is no longer the child of Europe, not even a wayward one. The next generation of leaders includes Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected mayor of New York City, a Muslim born in Uganda; Sen. Ted Cruz, son of a Cuban refugee; and the youngest members of the House of Representatives: Puerto Rican Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Palestinian Rashida Tlaib.
*Editor's Note: This article is available in its original language with a paid subscription.
**Editor's Note: Though Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed an international association to Joseph Stalin in 1943, by the time the U.N. charter was signed, he had passed away.
***Editor's Note: Though the U.S. is an important member of NATO, 32 of its members are European, with two North American members, the U.S. and Canada.
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