Part I: Addicted to America

Originally published in Dutch in EW Magazine on August 9th 2021, and was translated and adapted on August 24th 2022.

Globalization is not all that bad. But the process that the Netherlands and Europa have experienced since the Second World War is not globalization, it is Americanization. Europe is geopolitically addicted to the United States and needs to be weaned off.

Perhaps the most important development in modern history is globalization: the global interweving of economics, culture, and migration, facilitated through trade and technology. Since the Cold War ended the share of people that lives in poverty globally has fallen from 36% to a mere 9%. At the same time trade as a share of global GDP has risen from 40% to 60%.

Not Globalization, but Americanization

In pure economic terms, globalization is an enormous success. But the process that has occurred over the past thirty years should rightfully be referred to as something else. We have not experienced globalization, but rather Americanization.

This distinction is far from simple semantics. The fundamental difference can be understood by studying three critical components of the US’ role in the world: America’s example, the undermining of non-American alternative, and finally, the contemporary crumbling of American hegemony.

As we will see, Europe is dependent on the Americans in every capacity. While this has lead to enormous prosperity, peace, and democratization there are downsides. Europe has fallen into an intellectual apathy and strategic paralysis where it stands as a passive spectator to the unfolding dynamics of geopolitics. In this three part series we will look at the three components of the US’ hegemony and end up with the fundamental European strategic dilemma : What is Europe?

The American Century

In the aftermath of the Second World War most of the world was a smouldering ruin, crucially however, the United States came off relatively unharmed. In a global conflict that saw many countries losing in excess of 10% of their entire population the US lost a mere 0.4%. The American industrial basis was unharmed and the country was politically relatively consentient.

From this starting point the Marshall Plan was developed, possibly the single most important event in European history. It was nothing less than the reconstruction of Europe, but with the implicit goal of rebuilding it in the image of America. Emphasis was put on the removing of trade barriers, industrialization, and creating a foreign market for US consumer goods. This era also brought forth the various global institutions such as Bretton Woods, NATO, the United Nations, the IMF, and the World Bank.

Let us be very clear, these institutions greatly alleviated the still significant amount of suffering in post-war Europe, and helped in putting Europe back on the map. What has echoed to today however, is that the United States was able to write the rules for the new world order. The US dollar became the currency of trade and English cemented its role as the global language, naturally with the necessary groundwork done by the British Empire. The foundation for Americanization was laid in the years after 1945, but it was only after the Berlin Wall came down that the process dramatically accelerated.

The American Dream, but in Europe

European modern life is essentially American. Europe adopted the American diet of McDonald's and Coco-Cola, while binge watching American shows on Netflix, and communicating about them through platforms owned by the American tech giants. Even though many schools in Europe still teach British English, most Europeans under the age of 40 are guilty of a distinct American twang in their vocabulary.

It is simply unimaginable that American influence be removed from modern Europe and the world at large. Modern economies are extremely reliant on trade, and the entire global trade network is built on a foundation of American military might. Pick a random choke point in the global supply chains and you will find the base for one of the US’ mighty aircraft carrier groups. Without Americans stabilizing the global economy globalization would have simply been impossible. Ironically, the Pax Americana also proved fertile soil for the Rise of China.

American Politics

Americanization does not limit itself to economic or lifestyle choices however. Societal and political issues also take their queue from the United States. Many politicians style their campaigns on what works in the US political environment. Parties on the left like drawing inspiration form Barack Obama’s campaign, such as Justin Trudeau’s first campaign as well as the Dutch Green-Left party. On the other side of the spectrum cultural topics such as QAnon are readily imported from Fox News into the conspiratorially minded European (far) right. Important societal wedge issues consistently find their origin in American political discourse, and are them poorly translated into a completely different political context.

The #MeToo, the BLM-movement, and the European abortion debate found their initial impulses in the American context and subsequently started making waves within Europe. It is American opinion makers and news events that drive the intellectual discussion in Europe, often resulting in a warped debate that is half rooted in America and half rooted in Europe. Perhaps the starkest indication is that it is almost impossible to even have discussion around social movements without important a whole laundry list of American loanwords, including woke, pro-choice, and pro-life. On a more fundamental level Europe lacks the intellectual vocabulary to have these debates independent of their American context.

Why globalization would be preferable to Americanization

Americanization has made Europe richer, freer, and safer than ever. At the same time, it has atrophied strategic thought in Europe and made Europe a mindless observer of global geopolitics despite being on of the most economically wealthy regions in the world. Critically, this goes to the heart of the distinction between Americanization and globalization. Globalization implies exchange in both directions, where intercultural issues are discussed from different angles and synthesized into a novel contribution. Americanization is seeing and issue and peaking over at Uncle Sam to try and figure out the expected answer.

Credit to the American, they have successfully established a America-centric world order, but as we will see in part 2 of this series, this did not always happen through peaceful means. The US has not only been aggressive in promoting American values, but also in stamping out any (European) attempts to try a non-American alternative. Those that played along in the American world order could expect a bright future, those that refused or even resisted could anticipate an American intervention.