The poorest state in the United States, as measured by gross domestic product per capita, is Mississippi, at about $53,000. That compares with the EU’s average per capita GDP of about $41,000. As the Ukraine experience shows, European militaries cannot project power even a few miles beyond their borders. The world we have known for the past 1,000 years or so ? where Europe set the tone and led the way in science and technological advances, such as weapons, building, agriculture, seafaring and exploration ? has passed away in a single lifetime. For those of us in the United States, this dissolution of once mighty peoples will require us to think about the world in new ways, create new alliances and, most importantly, avoid sentimentalism about our native lands. It also requires us to understand that our responsibilities will often require us to be more concerned about the slaving genocidal regime in China and the immediate risk it poses to our partners in India, Australia, Japan and the Philippines. The challenge from communist China also reminds us that our initial and most important theater of action is the Western Hemisphere. The Monroe Doctrine is and needs to remain foremost in our strategic thinking. We also need to be cognizant that our peaceful neighbors to the north and south are strategic blessings and whatever disagreements we might have are trivial compared with the challenges we will face together. If we are going to successfully counter communist China, we are going to need the healthy nations in our immediate neighborhood to be firmly committed to our efforts. In short, as the Old World wanes, the New World we build will require American leadership.

Team Trump decided to tell Europe some truths recently. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered the most unremarkable truth: Ukraine can’t win its war with Russia, so it will need a negotiated settlement. Vice President J.D. Vance was a bit more provocative and said attempts to impede artificial intelligence are a modern-day version of book burning and the United States would not be a party to it. The Europeans, as always, were defiant, with the German prime minister insisting that Europeans would decide the fate of Ukraine. That’s great news. The Germans should get on it right away. But first, maybe they can let us know why they haven’t done that at any other point in the past three years. It’s understandable. Europe is in decline just about everywhere. The French, the first daughter of the Church and for 1,000 years the greatest warriors in Europe, are unable to keep their churches from being burned. The Germans, masters of order and discipline, could not stay either in their own nation or Mitteleuropa. Even the English, who built and sustained an empire that ruled the world and brought literacy, the rule of law and Christianity to billions, are reduced to watching television shows depicting how great they used to be. Europe is losing its will to live. Not a single nation on the continent has a fertility rate above the replacement level. They are all growing older. In 1990, the American and European Union economies were approximately the same size. Now, the U.S. economy is about 50% larger.

China has assiduously worked on its outreach to developing countries, especially in Africa. Its Belt and Road Initiative, despite its many faults, does provide development assistance to several countries. Russia and China work closely with the BRICS, an intergovernmental organization that focuses on economic and geopolitical coordination. Many Global South countries ― and others ― are interested in joining BRICS. Unfortunately, it is this type of outreach that the U.S. has neglected since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. There was a perception that with the end of the Cold War, the U.S. system of governance became widely recognized as effective compared with other forms of governance. We closed the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) in October 1999 and cut back on cultural exchanges while closing some of our cultural facilities and libraries abroad. In retrospect, I believe this was an unfortunate mistake. Our form of governance is competing with China’s and Russia’s autocracies. These autocracies appeal to both developing and developed countries for various reasons. In 1991, when the Soviet Union imploded, it appeared that liberal democracies, which ensure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for their citizens, were a desirable form of governance. We know it is far superior to dictatorships and autocracies, but this is part of the competition we’re having with China and others. To succeed, we must clearly convey our story and values. President Trump has an opportunity to tell this story to the world. An opportunity to contribute to ending the conflicts in Ukraine, the Gaza Strip and other regions experiencing turmoil.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent observed early this week that the U.S. and China found common ground on trade in talks and neither side wants a divorce. More specifically, Mr. Bessent said: “The consensus from both delegations this weekend was neither side wants a decoupling. We concluded that we have shared interests and we both have an interest in balanced trade.” What he said probably comes as a surprise to most Americans, who view communist China as what it is: a slaving, genocidal regime. Mr. Bessent’s declaration flies in the face of that widespread bipartisan sentiment. How about stopping Chinese espionage in the U.S., especially the theft of intellectual property? Restrictions on China buying farmland, natural resources, technology and anything else in the United States? Chinese investment in American companies? The good news is that not everyone in the Cabinet is a globalist. During his confirmation hearing, Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that China has “lied, cheated, hacked and stolen” its way to global superpower status “at our expense.” He called China “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.” I suspect that about 80% of the American people agree with all that. They understand, almost certainly with more clarity than their “leaders,” that decoupling from the slaving, genocidal, communist regime in Beijing is not only warranted but also essential. The People’s Republic of China means us no good, nor does it have friendly intentions toward the remainder of the world. That is obvious to anyone willing to see it.

Western customs, such as the sexes socializing in a park or restaurant or street, and respect for Jews, are being challenged by an increasingly belligerent Muslim population bolstered by yearslong mass immigration. “The Europeans have learned the hard way that mass migration of Muslims without assimilation leads to submission of their own cultures,” Jim Hanson, chief editor for Middle East Forum, told me. There are news stories on Muslim “grooming” gangs who kidnap non-Muslim girls and rape them. Muslims have staged aggressive street protests and taken over public spaces such as bridges and town squares to pray. Britain is considered the Western capital of Shariah courts, which hand down rulings based on Islamic, not national, laws. In Germany, waves of Islamists invaded Christmas markets to disrupt the sacred holiday. There is pushback. In Dublin in late April more than 10, 000 marched demanding an end to the mass immigration of thousands of so-called asylum-seekers, some homeless and living in tent cities. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni campaigned in 2022 on stopping the mass influx of foreigners at Italy’s southern sea border. In 2018, she said, “I believe that Islam certainly presents incompatibilities with our values and our civilization, and what happens in Islamic centers demonstrates this.” Ms. Meloni is virtually alone among European chiefs of state in condemning any aspect of Islamic culture. President Trump’s senior aides are not so shy. On Feb. 14, Vice President J.D. Vance scolded European leaders for allowing a foreign invasion. 오성환 외신전문위원 suhwo@segye.com

The Spanish government boasted that it had become a global leader in fueling its economy with windmills and solar panels. Among leftists, there is no higher virtue to signal than replacing nuclear, gas and coal plants with these in-vogue alternatives. Shortly after achieving this green energy miracle, Spain and Portugal’s 60 million citizens were plunged into darkness not experienced since medieval times, when, not coincidentally, windmills were widely used as a power source. NASA satellite imagery captured the blackout stretching across the Iberian Peninsula. Modern Europeans brag about the superiority of their electric train network, but some Spanish passengers may have entertained second thoughts when powerless locomotives left them stranded for hours. Even gasoline-fueled cars slowed without traffic lights to guide the chaos on the streets of Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon. Those stuck in dark, high-rise elevators had no way to summon help when cellphone towers stopped transmitting. The public resorted to cash or barter to pay for what food or drink remained in markets swiftly emptied by panic buying. The responsible authorities in Spain haven’t been forthcoming about what caused the disruption. Ordinarily, “renewable” systems reliant on sun and wind power run out of juice on cloudy and windless days, but the situation here appears more complex. Common sense suggests that such things happen when one relies on volatile power sources dependent upon Mother Nature’s whims. Many on the left would rather blame the catastrophe on climate change. Madrid’s socialist government is obsessed with achieving “net zero” carbon dioxide emissions. Spain didn’t bother accounting for the downside of this strategy.

Real rejuvenation requires intellectual freedom, civic dignity and historical honesty, all of which the CCP ruthlessly suppresses. Instead, the party offers a zombie version of nationalism: giant parades, loud slogans and censorship masquerading as pride. In truth, the CCP’s version of “rejuvenation” means returning China to its rightful place, not as a beacon of civilization but as a plantation farmed for the benefit of the party elite. China is not rising because of the CCP. It is rising in spite of it, with chains still rattling around its ankles. The CCP’s one true objective is painfully clear: to perpetuate its rule at any cost. Everything else is negotiable. The real enemies of the Chinese people are not foreign corporations or imaginary Western conspirators. They are the gray-faced men in Zhongnanhai who fear books more than bombs, who fear questions more than armies, and who have turned one of the world’s oldest civilizations into a police state draped in red. The CCP has betrayed China and blamed the world for the consequences. It has stolen the blood, sweat and hope of the Chinese people. It has humiliated them more thoroughly than any imperialist ever dreamed. And it has the audacity to wave the flag of patriotism as it does so. The real rejuvenation of China will begin the day the Chinese people realize the truth. Their enemy is not overseas. It is seated at home, cloaked in red banners, and speaks the language of “liberation” while building its prison. Until then, the party will continue to wage its greatest campaign: the cover-up of its crimes under the banner of the nation’s glory. And the real century of humiliation will continue.

The Cultural Revolution: The burning of temples, the smashing of traditions and the executions of teachers were conducted not by invaders but by zealots in Mao jackets. Tiananmen Square: The massacre of Chinese youths in 1989 was not ordered by Queen Victoria. It came from the Politburo. Today’s mass surveillance state, censorship, forced labor camps in Xinjiang and the constant purging of dissenters are modern extensions of this internal war against the Chinese people. The “Century of Humiliation” never ended; it was merely nationalized and maximized by the CCP. The CCP understands a simple principle: It’s much easier to rule if you can keep people angry at outsiders instead of you. Thus, every failure is blamed on “foreign hostile forces.” Economic slowdown? Western sabotage. Popular discontent? CIA plots. Hong Kong protests? American “black hand.” Uyghur resistance? Foreign infiltration. Meanwhile, the party’s real crimes - corruption, nepotism, jailing journalists, and summary execution, land seizures, environmental disasters - are swept under the rug with the magic words “foreign threat.” It’s an old trick, beloved by tyrants across history: Invent external enemies to justify internal oppression. The irony is breathtaking. The CCP crushes the Chinese people and then accuses the world of oppressing China. The party claims its “primary strategic goal” is the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” A beautiful phrase-vague enough to mean anything, sentimental enough to discourage questions. A rejuvenated China would be open, confident, creative and respected. The CCP’s China is paranoid, brittle, stagnant and feared.

If you believe the Chinese Communist Party, it is the selfless guardian of the Chinese people, tirelessly toiling for national rejuvenation, waving away the dark clouds of the “Century of Humiliation” with a red flag in one hand and a peace dove in the other. In this version of reality, the CCP is a savior, a redeemer, the only thing standing between China’s greatness and the predatory foreigners lurking at the gates. Unfortunately, reality has a nasty habit of refusing to cooperate with CCP propaganda. When the red curtains are pulled back, a much uglier truth is revealed: The CCP does not represent the Chinese people. It never has. Its true strategic objective is not Chinese rejuvenation but preserving its monopoly on power. The so-called Century of Humiliation? It is not a distant historical injustice. It is an ongoing tragedy inflicted by the CCP ? a betrayal dressed up as patriotism, a crime scene hidden under layers of xenophobic slogans. The original “Century of Humiliation” (1839?1949) involved modernized foreign powers imposing unequal treaties, exploiting China’s weakness and humiliating its people. It was real. It was brutal. Still, the true and most horrifying “Century of Humiliation” is perpetrated by the CCP itself in its century of existence (1921-2025). In its false narrative, what the CCP fails to mention is that since 1949, the most systematic, violent and enduring humiliation of the Chinese people has come not from any foreigners but from the Chinese Communist Party itself. During the “Great Leap Forward,” 30 million to 45 million were killed by famine, not by foreign guns.

With annual joint air and naval drills, Russia and China have ramped up their military collaboration. They are undoubtedly focused on collecting and sharing intelligence on their main adversary: the United States. Beyond taking advantage of Russia’s relative weakness economically and strategically to gain a foothold and exploit Russia’s traditional Central Asian sphere of influence, China sees the war in Ukraine as a valuable opportunity to collect intelligence, which will help guide its strategic planning against Taiwan. China clearly wants to learn as much as possible from Russia’s war on Ukraine, including how the U.S. and its allies support Ukraine’s brave warfighters with intelligence and military equipment; Ukraine’s use of drones to support military operations and conduct reconnaissance and kinetic strikes; and Ukrainian defensive tactics, particularly in the Black Sea, where, without a navy, Ukraine has shut down Russian maritime operations. Collecting information on China’s plans and intentions toward Taiwan is a high-priority requirement for the U.S. intelligence community. China’s tactical interest in Ukraine offers an advantageous window to gauge the lessons Beijing is learning and, for the CIA in particular, based on reports from human sources, how the Chinese military might translate those lessons into practice. For the Trump administration, the presence of Chinese and North Korean troops fighting alongside Russian soldiers with Iranian drones in the air striking Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure targets, there is an auspicious opportunity to drive a wedge between Russia and its axis of dictatorship allies by ensuring Mr. Putin gains no lasting military or economic advantage from his barbaric war on Ukraine.