And here we go again: it appears Donald Trump is planning to reintroduce tariffs between 10% and 12.5% to the detriment of as many as sixty partner countries, given that the temporary 10% tariffs imposed worldwide expired last Friday at midnight. In short, the Supreme Court's rejection of the previous tariffs in February wasn't enough, and he seems little concerned (or so he would have us believe) if his presidential approval ratings are at rock bottom (not to say they're completely at rock bottom).

And while, in all likelihood, war with an unexpectedly resilient Iran could spell political doom for him during the upcoming midterm elections and beyond, the now aging eighty-year-old tycoon would like to push forward with a further commercial offensive to defend his country's national interests. Granted, and probably not granted, that he is actually serving the country's interests. A question of perspective, one might exclaim. But so it is. If his political "key" could be summed up in a Latin adage, it would be the so-called "divide and conquer," and, consequently, one would expect the White House, in a perspective as short-sighted as it is untechnical, to attempt to target individual European Union member states with subjectively targeted retaliation.

Meanwhile, Hormuz remains closed, with all the large-scale consequences that entail. With Donald Trump's return to the White House, there seems to have been a shift from a plurilateral vision of American trade policy, so to speak, to a dangerously bilateral, transactional, and confrontational approach. This is a direct expression of a synthesis between a subjectively oriented economic vision, of which he likely considers himself a "master," and a certain disregard for the potential, and not always calibrated, practical effects. If this is the behavior of America's ally, then it probably wouldn't be wrong for the rest of the West to exclaim, "God forbid, my friends! I'll take care of my enemies."

Donald Trump's shortsighted, convulsive nationalism must be responded to with market diversification and maximum protection and strengthening of free trade governed by multilateral rules based on international law and reciprocity. Perhaps the best response to Donald Trump's United States could finally be a United States of Europe, through the development and sharing of a new political culture that can effectively realize the possibility of a true centralization of power. The European Union should implement policies aimed at enhancing the richness of individual national identities, transforming the existing differences between member states into a strength. True, synergistic European integration should have as its primary objective the exaltation of each nation's unique characteristics, coordinating them within a shared strategic vision. This is all the more true when the new world order appears to be based on a multipolar system in which China, the United States, Russia, and other so-called regional powers are constantly engaged in redefining strategic balances by pursuing highly competitive, dynamic procedures, as opposed to the static mechanisms that govern the Old Continent. And even more so when the European Union appears to lack a useful and functional geopolitical framework for translating its economic value into diplomatic influence. A response must also be rethinking the system of alliances.

Giuseppina Di Salvatore – Lawyer, Nuoro

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