Robert D. Kaplan (New York, 1952), some of the essential geopolitical analysts of current occasions, launches questions that haven’t any reply … not but. “For 80 years, Europe has depended on the US for its security. This generated a political class in the old continent that has become accustomed to administering social programs without worrying too much about the defense,” he explains. That period of consolation appears to be coming with Donald Trump as a tenant of the White House. Now the query is to know if Europe may be unified with out the gringo umbrella. “Will historical disputes resurface between France and Germany? France will be worried if Germany rearms? A country as small as Slovakia, or Belgium, can block or curb foreign policy initiatives promoted by other nations? These issues will mark the future,” he says in dialog with the nation.
While Europe tries to indicate power, the world seems to be at how the world’s first financial system dusts the imperialist spirit to go searching for pure sources. “We are entering a new era,” acknowledges the knowledgeable who has launched a brand new ebook, Baldia land: a world in everlasting disaster (RBA, 2025). The title isn’t any accident: it refers to a poem by Ts Eliot, a textual content that offers with collapse, desolation and loss.
Ask. In his ebook he traces a parallel between the Weimar Republic and the current, a world in everlasting disaster. Are we in a type of world Weimar?
Answer. The Weimar Republic [un régimen alemán que surgió tras la I Guerra Mundial y que terminó con el ascenso de Hitler] He lived in a continuing disaster, there was a number of instability. The present world resembles that state of affairs. Weimar was an actual everlasting disaster. I used Weimar as a means of describing right now’s world as a result of expertise has lowered distances. We are extra related than ever and we can’t ignore one another. A disaster within the Pacific can have penalties in Europe and the US in a means that didn’t occur earlier than. I converse of a everlasting disaster, not anarchy or complete collapse. It isn’t a very unfavourable imaginative and prescient, however from a world that advances from one disaster to a different.
P. Does the combat for vital minerals reinforce analogy?
R. Critical minerals are a very new phenomenon. We are getting into an imperial new period, outlined by nice regional powers. The United States will exert its affect from Greenland to Panama. Russia will search extra territory, and China will attempt to submit Taiwan and increase via the Western Pacific. These three powers will compete on totally different fronts. The US and China already dispute their affect in Latin America, which was as soon as outlined because the Washington yard, however the place now Beijing has a big weight.
P. Where Europe suits on this world combat?
R. From the start of the disaster within the Middle East, which started on October 7, 2023 [cuando Hamas atacó Israel y en respuesta se lanzó una ofensiva militar contra la Franja de Gaza]USA, Russia and Iran have performed a key position, whereas Europe has been not noted. It was the primary nice battle by which his place has not had weight. Benjamín Netanyahu, for instance, didn’t give significance to the statements of the Spanish President [Pedro Sánchez animó a reconocer al Estado palestino] or the British [que ha dicho que se debe permitir a los palestinos regresar a casa]. This displays a pattern. For 80 years, Europe has relied on the US for its security. This has ended with Trump. We are getting into a world the place the US, China and Russia will compete for world management. Europe, regardless of its financial energy, isn’t a unified strategic actor. There is speak of making a European protection, for instance, however what sort of military will originate? Is it actual or one thing symbolic because the UN Peace Forces in Lebanon? It is one factor to extend protection budgets; Another is to construct an efficient navy power. Europe can also be divided. Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece might not really feel the identical Russian risk as Poland, Romania or Germany. This reinforces fragmentation.
P. What do you consider the US technique about vital minerals?
R. It is amoral. Non -immoral. It resembles the political realism of China and Russia. Since 1945, the USA projected a liberal imaginative and prescient of the world primarily based on human rights and democracy. The Trump administration isn’t fascinated by that, which is a drastic change, particularly for Europe, whose hyperlink with the US was primarily based on shared requirements and values. USA now seems to be for brand new sources [en otros territorios]I don’t suppose it’s a type of colonialism as a result of Trump doesn’t need to govern on different populations or set up colonies. It is a brand new type of imperialism.
https://elpais.com/economia/negocios/2025-04-19/robert-d-kaplan-la-busqueda-de-minerales-criticos-es-una-nueva-forma-de-imperialismo.html