Are Europe and America’s interests still aligned? | The Economist

To argue now. that the transatlantic partnership. is stronger than ever. would be a fallacy, it's not. But, all I'm saying is. that we need to work on areas. where we have common interests. such as defence, NATO, minerals, technology, or in the Finnish case, icebreakers. And then we need to. cordially disagree on things. such as the European Union, international institutions, the liberal world order. and climate change. And we need to understand. that America, with the current administration,

has changed its tack. Its value base. is quite right wing. Its interest base is. quite financial. and its power base. is not relying on alliances. in the same way. that they used to. So I always talk, as a Finn, I say deal with the world as it is. not as you would wish it to be. Of course, I wished the transatlantic. partnership was stronger. than what it is right now. But let's just make sure. that it's not going to crumple. Maybe Europeans are panicking.

because they realise. that America has different. arguments about values. but interests is what really counts. But when you go through your list. just now of climate change, their support for far right, in many cases. pro-Russian parties, that they would like to see. take power here in Europe, their view of alliances. Are you confident. that even on interests, are you absolutely confident. that that binds us. at the moment? I think in some cases it does, in some it doesn't. And I think the values. issue is a little bit complicated. So, when I look at American. foreign-policy doctrine right now,

it's obviously framed. in the National Security Strategy, which was published in November 2025. And for me it has two pillars. One is MAGA. So Make America Great Again. That's the ideology. that sort of thinks of Europe. as a big Democratic party, if you will. It thinks of Europe as too liberal, to a certain extent. And killing itself with immigration. It's very harsh language. Harsh language, of course, which is interesting in the sense. that I think that immigration into. the US is still higher. than what it is to Europe.

But that's beside the point. It's also the one that. attacks London very strongly. because it's a multicultural. melting pot etc. So that's one strand. And then the other strand. is the policy. side of things. and that's America First. And in that there's a pecking order. Number one is. the Western Hemisphere. Number two is the Indo-Pacific. Number three is Europe. Number four is the Middle East. And number five is Africa. And this is the reality. where we live in. Now, then we come to the basic. question of interest. Is it in the interest. of the United States.

that Finland, bordering. Russia 1340km, has one of the largest armies. in Europe? Yes, it is. Is it in the interest. of the United States that Sweden. and Norway have strong. Arctic defence forces? Yes, it is. Is it in the interest. of the United States. that Russia doesn't create. spheres of interest in Europe? Yes, it is. So I do think that it's. probably a little bit. more on the interest side. than the value side at the moment.