“Say goodbye to ‘American Europe,’” written by Glyn Morgan, associate professor of political science, was published on CapX, a publication of the Centre for Policy Studies. An excerpt:

“On July 27, 2025, the U.S. President Donald Trump invited the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen and other top EU officials to his golf course, Trump-Turnberry on the West Coast of Scotland. Their meeting sealed a trade deal, which von der Leyen described as ‘huge’, but which critics described as a ‘capitulation.’

While the trade deal yielded more favourable terms for the EU than those Trump had announced in April 2025, the deal was still ultimately highly unfavourable. The EU had originally sought a 10% deal; Trump rejected it and threatened 30% before settling on 15%. The deal also included $600 billion in EU investments in the US, and the purchase of $750 billion worth of US energy.

When asked to explain what had happened, why the EU had capitulated to Trump’s demands, the EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told reporters: ‘It’s not only about the trade. It’s about security. It’s about Ukraine. It’s about current geopolitical volatility. I cannot go into all the details.’

Europeans, whether pro-market Atlanticists or EU federalists, will have to come to terms with life within ‘Civilisational America’

Šefčovič’s reticence was unfortunate, because if he had laid bare ‘the details’, Europeans might have discovered that Trump’s willingness to leverage security for trade constitutes a grave threat to the EU, a threat that has no ready response. Since Europe depends on US weapons to protect Ukraine, its capacity for hard bargaining is limited.

We should see the Turnberry capitulation as a historical moment that marks the transition between what I call ‘American Europe’—a political order that saw the United States underwrite European security, prosperity and autonomy—and ‘Civilisational America’—a new political order that seeks to exploit American security provision for trade and other political gains.

The full column can be read on CapX.