How Europeans View the American Shift

Conversations across Central Europe reveal growing disillusionment with U.S. leadership, as allies watch America retreat from its global commitments and drift away from the values it once championed.

After spending two weeks touring Central Europe, I can decidedly report that the age of Pax Americana is over, at least in this part of the world.

In conversation after conversation across Germany and Austria — with people ranging from senior executives at large corporations to skilled workers in the technology sector, military veterans, hospitality staff, and blue-collar laborers — the same sentiment was repeated: America is gone.

Central Europe holds a special place in my heart. I spent a significant part of my formative years here during my military service. At that time, there were two Germanys, divided by the fabled Iron Curtain that marked the boundaries of the Cold War. The German people didn’t always appreciate what amounted to an occupying force on their soil or the disruptions it caused. But they valued the friendship and security that came with American boots on the ground and planes in the sky.

Today, 36 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and more than three decades since official reunification, most of the American presence is gone. The barracks and depots that once dotted the landscape have been converted into housing and industrial centers. The infrastructure that supported half a million Americans in West Germany has quietly disappeared. The same holds for much of Western Europe. Still, the people of Europe have long appreciated the special relationship with their American cousins, viewing themselves as part of a shared cultural continuum.

That feeling of mutual interest, culture, and values is largely gone. Universally, the dozens of Germans, Austrians, Czechs, French, British, Poles, Danes, Romanians, Turks, Italians, and Spaniards I spoke with during my trip expressed dismay over the sudden and rapid shift in American policy toward the rest of the world. They cannot comprehend how the United States — which led a global coalition of like-minded nations for decades — has so abruptly pivoted to an isolationist stance.

Many voiced disdain for President Donald Trump. They receive different information about American policy and view developments through a different lens. Some were quick to point out the irony that Trump is the descendant of two European immigrants who left their countries to avoid obligations at home, including his grandfather, who fled Germany to avoid mandatory military service. They also find it difficult to reconcile Trump’s belief that the U.S. can go it alone without allies or partnerships.

More striking were the candid conversations with longtime German friends who drew parallels between Trump’s agenda and a particular period in their history. They pointed to the rise of the National Socialists in the 1920s and 1930s, and how Adolf Hitler employed rhetoric similar to “Make Germany Great Again” as a rallying cry.

Many asked how average Americans feel about this rightward shift, especially given that many MAGA and Trump-aligned policies appear to work against their interests. Europeans were acutely aware of the provisions in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, a sweeping domestic policy measure Trump signed into law on July 4. They could not understand how people who rely on government services could support policies that erode their benefits.

Still, Europeans are not unsympathetic to many American concerns. They acknowledge that Europe has benefited from American friendship and military support. As one person said, “It’s crazy that 300 million people are paying for the defense of 500 million people.”

What the U.S. pays for allows European governments to fund expansive social, healthcare, and development programs. Most welcomed the agreement by NATO countries to spend 3.5 percent of GDP on developing and expanding military capacity, and another 1.5 percent on infrastructure, such as railways and roadways, to support defense readiness. They envision a more independent Europe, not just as a necessary response to America’s withdrawal, but as a catalyst for growing stronger, both militarily and economically.

Europeans are also sympathetic to the American position on immigration. Since the Arab Spring, countries like France, Germany, and Sweden have absorbed millions of refugees from the Middle East and Africa — people fleeing poverty, violence, and war. They understand the disruption caused by the sudden arrival of people with no resources, unfamiliarity with local customs, and a limited grasp of the language. Many citizens express frustration that immigrants and refugees receive government support that native-born residents often do not — a familiar refrain in the American experience.

However, they find the American crackdown on immigration and the push to deport millions absurd. While they have concerns about the challenges of large-scale immigration, they firmly believe in the importance of treating people with dignity. They recognize that most immigrants are simply seeking a better life. What they see in the U.S. — the rounding up of people, placing them in detention facilities, and forcibly expelling them to foreign countries — strikes them as a betrayal of the American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

For one Austrian woman, I was the first American she had ever met. Over a few beers, I spoke with her and her family about current events and global trends. The frank conversation — with honest admissions of American failures and shortsightedness — wasn’t what she expected. She thought I would speak in tones of bravado and absolutes. She was surprised by the willingness to engage in nuance and acknowledge multiple perspectives. That realization made me pause. We should be able to have rational conversations that don’t reduce every issue to binaries of right and left, black and white.

Ultimately, our European friends are saddened to see American leadership and presence fade. They believe Europe may be better off with less reliance on the U.S., and even admit that they needed the jolt of complacency that Trump delivered. But they still hope America will retain its place as a rational and constructive leader on the world stage. The America they see today isn’t the same country that defeated the Nazis, rebuilt Europe after the war, and defended democratic and capitalist ideals for the last 80 years.

What they fear is an America allowing its ideals, laws, and alliances to erode in ways that resemble what happened to the Weimar Republic and the rise of fascism. It’s a perspective worth considering, given their history and hard-earned experience with how such shifts occur, and the consequences that follow.