Sumantra Maitra predicts in a Federalist column that a future imperial Europe would eventually cross swords with the United States.
[T]he European Union is shaping into an empire, and sooner or later the United States, as a maritime great power, will come into conflict with it. That is a structural issue, and it is inevitable. Any power consolidating the European landmass would have so much material, financial, and demographic power, it would be a threat to other land and maritime powers around, including the United States, United Kingdom, or even Russia.
As I have repeatedly said, the EU as one single empire under one flag, one liberal faith, and one fiscal and military union will never coexist with an American-led world. Sooner or later, due to their difference of interests, Washington and Brussels will be on opposing ends.
The EU won’t need to match toe to toe with U.S. military might. It can simply have a separate currency to the dollar’s domination and take away the U.S.’s financial coercive power of sanctions, or even worse, throw its weight behind China or even Russia against U.S. companies.
The U.S. policymakers who still think geopolitically will have to think of “divide and rule” for EU sooner or later. And the U.K. will have to decide whether to side with the EU empire or American empire.
