When a bloc depends on a hegemon for defense, it cannot credibly retaliate in trade; the patron can dictate tariff and regulatory terms by tying economic outcomes to security dependence. Europe’s reported acceptance of U.S. tariffs and antitrust concessions illustrates how military reliance shapes allied trade policy.
— This reframes allied trade disputes as security–economy bargaining rather than purely economic negotiations, with consequences for EU autonomy and industrial strategy.
Paul Mason
2025.09.28
62% relevant
If, as the article reports, the U.S. Defense Secretary told allies that America is handing conventional European defense to Europe, the U.S. security umbrella that underpins leverage over allied economic policy weakens—directly engaging the idea that defense guarantees shape trade and regulatory terms.
Thomas Fazi
2025.09.23
70% relevant
The article argues EU sanctions pushed Europe from Russian pipeline gas to US LNG (now nearly half of EU LNG imports), deepening reliance on a security patron whose energy terms shape the market—consistent with the thesis that defense dependence lets the hegemon set trade conditions.
Logan Kolas
2025.09.17
60% relevant
The article describes the U.S. threatening tariffs to force changes to EU digital and space-tech rules, fitting the pattern where a security hegemon uses economic leverage to dictate allied regulatory terms, even if the security angle is implicit here.
Wolfgang Munchau
2025.08.25
100% relevant
The alleged 'final' EU–U.S. deal: 15% U.S. tariffs on EU goods (50% on steel/aluminum) versus EU eliminating tariffs on U.S. goods, opening autos/agriculture, and not applying EU antitrust to U.S. tech, justified by Europe’s reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella.