Donald Trump suspends the Russia Sanctions Act - a law that he himself had approved very recently. A party is pushing for power in Germany, which demands the cessation of aid to Ukraine and the restoration of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. The government of Estonia - a country close to the front line - wants the lifting of sanctions against a Russian state company that supports aggression against Ukraine. One cannot help but ask oneself: does the "collective West" still exist? (a term the Kremlin uses for the West – ed.) or has it fallen apart?
Were Primakov, Putin and Xi right?
Every attempt to answer this question leads to another: what is Trump's current term in office? Just an unfortunate episode in American history with respect to Canadians, Europeans, Japanese and other allies, or a sign of a long-term trend towards US self-isolation and the abandonment of its role as the “leader of the free world“ and the “global West“?
Moscow and Beijing have already given their answer: the “global West“ no longer exists. We have entered an era of so-called “multipolarity”, long predicted by Yevgeny Primakov and the Chinese Communist Party, in which everyone looks out for themselves.
In reality, this “multipolarity“ has always been an anti-Western concept. Its main goal is to put democracies and dictatorships on an equal footing and to provide protection for the latter. The argument is that every state has legitimate national interests and spheres of influence - a reality that should be accepted, rather than “rocking the boat” with talk of human rights. By this logic, it follows that China with its Uyghur concentration camps, or Russia, which poisons opponents of the regime, are no worse than Germany, the United Kingdom or the United States. And on top of that, they are producing electric cars faster and extracting more oil and gas.
The policy of the current occupant of the White House is chaotic and devoid of any interest in any concepts. But he can actually be considered a supporter of this “multipolarity“. Trump respects power, he doesn't care who he is dealing with - with democratic allies or with dictatorships. He measures politics mainly by economic and monetary criteria. He is egocentric and clearly envies the world fame of Volodymyr Zelensky. And how many peaceful residents of Kiev or Odessa die every night doesn't interest him at all.
"After Trump, every administration will be better"
However, the situation is changing. Despite the liberalization of oil and gas production and the transformation of the United States into an energy superpower, Trump's ratings have reached a record low. Promises to limit Chinese economic expansion and solve migration problems have not been fulfilled. Ukraine enjoys the support of the majority of Americans, regardless of their party affiliation, and the Democratic Party has every chance of “winning“ the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate.
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump during the meeting in Anchorage, August 2025. Photo: Dmitry Azarov/Kommersant Photo/Sipa USA/picture alliance
Moreover, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is clearly starting to conduct his own policy. He sees himself as a candidate for the presidential election in 2028 and has already demonstrated his main difference from the “boss” - the ability to think conceptually. Rubio's speech in Athens on the “revival of the West“ some liked it, others found it "reactionary", and still others - "neglectful of allies in Asia". But the fact that the Secretary of State is not afraid to be a "politician-philosopher" already inspires hope against the background of the cynicism, rancor and frank incompetence of the current administration.
“After Trump, every administration will be better and will try to restore what he destroyed“, an American friend, a former State Department official and now one of the unofficial coordinators of aid to Ukraine, told me recently. “Our nuclear umbrella will not disappear, nor will NATO. The existence of the Alliance is our key national interest“. He believes in America's ability to “reinvent itself“. It has been like that in the past. But, he says, this does not mean that everything will go back to the way it was under Obama or Bush Jr. Europeans, Canadians, Australians and Japanese will have to understand that they too are responsible for the fate of the “free world“.
NATO will not die
As someone who lives 30 kilometers from the border with Belarus, a country that is now essentially a protectorate of the Russian Federation, I completely understand what my friend is talking about. The sense of danger coming from the east returns every morning - with a smartphone notification about a drone threat, another foiled assassination attempt on a prominent émigré or an attempt by armed men in camouflage clothing without insignia to infiltrate the border with neighboring Latvia.
Konstantin EggertPhoto: DW
In the Baltic states, Poland and Finland, bordering Russia, the understanding has already matured that freedom comes at a high price, but that this price is worth paying. Finland has created perhaps the best system of border fortifications in Europe, Poland is building a nuclear power plant and building an army that will be the third largest in NATO after the American and Turkish ones, and Lithuania is restoring conscription and improving its defense against drones.
These same countries are actively developing relations with Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines - countries that are resisting the economic, political and military pressure of Russia's main patron - the communist dictatorship in Beijing. In Vilnius and Taipei, Manila and Helsinki understand: the freedom to choose your own way of life, to change governments, to discuss and solve problems - this is something worth fighting for.
This understanding is gradually settling in Western Europe - albeit more slowly than we would like, although Putin and Xi Jinping are giving London, Berlin and Paris plenty of reasons to hurry. The revival of the global West will be primarily the work of those countries that are close to the chronology. They will be the first to lend a hand to the new American administration. And the others can join a little later. The important thing is that they join.
This text expresses the opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and DW as a whole.
Source: www.dw.com