President Biden’s first overseas trip to Europe last week brought our focus back to the relationships that defined American foreign policy \u2013 and much of world history \u2013 in the 20th century. But do they even matter anymore in the 21st? Max Bergman, a former State Department official who is currently a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress says the answer is yes. And by focusing there first, and accomplishing as much as he did, President Biden hit a foreign policy home run for America.<\/p>\n
The fact is that Europe has undergone a massive transformation since World War II.Europe is integrating and has formed a union. The economy of the European Union is the same size as the United States. It’s the same size as China. There’s 450 million people in Europe \u2013 larger than the United States. It spends as much on defense as Russia and China. Its regulations set a standard worldwide.<\/p>\n
On top of that, it is quite stable. It is democratic, capitalist and free-market oriented. It could be our greatest strategic partner. And on the flip side, if it disintegrates, that’s what Russia and China are after. That could be a strategic nightmare.<\/p>\n