The questions left at the summit of the Atlantic Alliance

The recent Atlantic Alliance summit highlighted several differences of opinion among members and left more than one issue pending. If, on the one hand, the US continues to focus on the economic aspect, leaving the strategic and geopolitical issues in a guilty manner, the other members seem to be engaged in a diatribe on the real functionality of the alliance, France, or on aspects that are too peculiar to interest single, Turkey, or, still too peculiar in nature, like the countries of the former Soviet bloc. What was missing was a common vision capable of responding to the renewed demands of the international scene, therefore with some French reason, and to undertake a shared direction able to focus on common interests. Defining generically as an enemy the danger of terrorism, under which several instances, even opposing ones, fall, does not seem sufficient to a shared action against the real dangers, which are the increasingly widespread world instability and the emergence of China. Above all, a more cautious attitude should be adopted towards Beijing because of considerations that are objective. Washington does not share Beijing's approach of wanting to increasingly involve the United Nations in resolving crises, but, especially with the Trump presidency, has opted for isolation, which no longer puts it at the center of the international scene. This is because he wanted to pursue China on the road of priority economic interests, engaging in commercial battles, which caused a distraction, also wanted by his international role. This has left a very wide margin of maneuver to China, which thanks to its liquidity has been able to exploit and create opportunities for closer contact with the countries of the Atlantic Alliance. If, in principle, one can also share the intentions to involve the United Nations more in international crisis management, it must always be kept in mind that the Chinese interlocutor is not a democracy, but as demonstrated by the behavior with Chinese Muslims, it is a dictatorship of the hardest. Unfortunately, the Chinese model fascinates various Western political leaders: a democratic reduction allows greater freedom of government and allows a more incisive political action because it is less limited. Furthermore, in exchange for the renunciation of political rights, the population is offered greater access to goods and also a more guaranteed security, which are functional themes shared by economic and financial circles. This direction, as shown by the global protests in non-democratic political systems, only favors instability and, precisely for this reason it should be opposed in the Atlantic Alliance, first of all also against its own members like Turkey and also Poland. In addition, the marginal condition in which the European Union has relegated itself, due to the absence of a political project, does not favor a necessary debate capable of providing the necessary guidance within the Atlantic Alliance. Only the French president, with all his faults, tried to shake the alliance by asking for greater integration and greater respect for the rules (as he did against Turkey, blamed for having hit the Kurds, allies of the West in the struggle against the Islamic State). The London summit ended in an equivocal and, essentially, with nothing, and left many questions about the future of an alliance that has undoubtedly lost much of its capacity to maneuver, first of all political, but also geostrategic. The military power remains, necessary, of course, but that is little thing without a space project to project, not only in the future, but above all in the present Western ideals. We cannot speak of interests because there are too many inside the Atlantic Alliance and they are often in conflict with each other and it is precisely on this that a real process of revision of the same treaty that should be based on a strategic vision based on Western values ​​and real collaboration, with the main objective of maintaining peace. Everything else can then come as a result.