No more support from the US? Europe in new times

An op-ed at the Guardian (Trump’s new doctrine confirms it. Ready or not, Europe is on its own) looks to represent a broader tendency among Europeans. The arguments in that Guardian commentary are not unique; several analysts, think tanks, and policymakers in Europe and beyond are making closely related points about a “Trump doctrine” of economic coercion toward Europe.theguardian+2

​

Core claims of the commentary

From the title and context, the piece argues broadly that:

• The Trump administration is using tariffs, energy dependence, and security guarantees as tools of economic and political coercion against Europe.dirittoue+1​

• The EU has underused its own anti-coercion instrument and broader economic “power tools,” effectively accepting a subordinate role instead of responding with countermeasures.caliber+1​

These themes match a wider body of commentary rather than being an isolated view.ecfr+1​

Who shares similar views?

A range of actors are making comparable arguments:

• Policy think tanks: The European Council on Foreign Relations explicitly frames Trump’s approach as exploiting Europe’s “economic, technological, political and security vulnerabilities for coercive ends” and calls for an “economic power doctrine” and stronger use of the EU’s anti‑coercion instrument, almost exactly the move the Guardian author wants.ecfr​

• Legal and policy analysts: Law and policy briefs on the EU’s Anti‑Coercion Instrument discuss it precisely as a response to US (and Chinese) economic pressure and note that it has so far been used cautiously, echoing the critique that the EU is not deploying the tools it has.iep.unibocconi+1​

• Commentators on EU–US trade: Analyses of the 2025 EU–US tariff deal describe it as a “least bad” outcome driven by US leverage and EU vulnerability, and warn that endorsing Trump’s narrative damages the EU’s credibility and leaves it open to repeated coercion.isdp+1​

Broader debate and partial dissent

While the diagnosis of US economic coercion and an asymmetrical relationship is widely shared, there are differences on prescriptions and tone:

• Some experts argue Europe must harden its economic security stance but still prioritize maintaining a functional transatlantic relationship, so they are more cautious than the Guardian piece about aggressive retaliation.carnegieendowment+1​

• Others stress that Trump’s strategy may backfire by accelerating European diversification away from the US, so they see some structural constraints on US coercion that the more alarmist commentaries underplay.atlanticcouncil+1​

In other words, the Guardian piece sits at the critical end of a spectrum. Still, its core ideas—US economic coercion, the EU’s underuse of its defensive tools, and the need for a more assertive economic doctrine—are very much part of a broader and growing conversation rather than a lone outlier.bruegel+3ip