The future of the EU in the wake of Trump’s betrayal

Trump's betrayal of our European allies will be remembered as the darkest chapter in the history of the NATO alliance, and it will not be rectified as long as Trump is in power. Trump's bullying of our most cherished allies last week in Brussels while displaying unreserved respect for the West's foremost nemesis-Putin-was unconscionably disgusting and outlandish, if not a betrayal.

To be sure, James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence, called Trump's acquiescence to Putin "an incredible capitulation," and former CIA chief John Brennan characterized it as "nothing short of treasonous."

Due to this erratic behavior, Trump has now provided a historic opportunity for the EU to reassess its role and commitment to its alliance with the US. Whereas the EU must make every effort to preserve the integrity of the alliance, it must strive toward ending its psychological and emotional dependency on the US and anchor the alliance with America on a mutuality of strategic objectives.

That means the EU must be prepared to act unilaterally and independently when its collective national security interest is threatened, with or without the support of the US. The EU will be far more respected by the US and treated as an equal by assuming an independent posture, which must be sustained regardless of who occupies the White House.

To that end, the EU ought to develop its own vision of where it wants to be in the next 15 to 20 years, and what measures it must take to preserve the integrity of the European alliance. The door will remain open for America's leadership under a sane and principled president who understands the far-reaching values of the alliance.

This time, however, the EU should build the political and defense mechanism with all that implies to stand on its own as Germany's Chancellor Merkel has recently stated, and accordingly develop a strategy that will lead it to the realization of such a vision in stages. The EU should obviously be prepared to take any corrective measure and rise to any challenge that may emerge.

Sadly, regardless of how long Trump may last, he has already caused incalculable damage to the Western alliance. The fact is, there is a constituency that blindly supports such a misguided leader, which will undoubtedly outlast him and continue to impact American foreign and domestic policy.

As such, the EU cannot rule out potential American policies skewed in favor of "America first" that the Republicans will continue to embrace if they want to remain in power. To counter that, the EU needs, for obvious reasons, to continue to fully adhere to any agreements and treaties agreed upon, in defiance of Trump. The Paris Agreement on climate change and the Iran deal provide good examples.

Independently from the US, the EU ought to strengthen its military capability and acquire credible deterrence against Russia. As such, the EU must remain the most potent military force in Europe within NATO's framework and allocate all necessary funding to that end.

In this regard, the EU should reassess Turkey's reliability and trustworthiness as a member in the Organization and must not rule out kicking Turkey out as long as Ankara defies the NATO charter by its gross human rights violations and its cozying up to Europe's foremost nemesis-Russia.

The EU must also consolidate its institutions by reforming its constitution, particularly the decision-making process to enact timely and more effective policies. This is very important, especially now that it faces turmoil related to Brexit and internal political discord. Furthermore, it must develop a permanent financial structure that address the needs of member states experiencing financial difficulties such as Greece.

The EU should freeze further expansion of its member states until such time when it has realized much of its reforms. Meanwhile, the EU ought to develop and nurture relations with all potential candidates for membership, particularly the Balkan countries, to stifle the ambitions of Turkey's Erdogan from luring these states into his Islamic orbit.