Old order is making way for the new

Those gasps, splutters and screams you're hearing are the sounds of the old dying and the new being born right in front of our eyes, thanks to the ungentle midwifery of His Orange Eminence Donald Trump, the acquisitive emperor of sub-Canadian America.

- ZARRAR KHUHRO

The labour pains are intense and the contractions are increasing in frequency, but be assured that this particular delivery was long overdue and that Trump is simply one of those figures that history tends to throw up when one era nears its end; figures that will hasten the process and shape the contours of the new world, whether they know it or not.

By effectively taking a red, white and blue sledgehammer to the post-World War II European order that the US had itself crafted to the advantage of itself and its continental allies, Trump has set in motion forces that could lead to some very interesting results in the months, years and decades to come. And while predicting the future is a tricky (and potentially embarrassing) business at the best of times, there are some first and second order effects that bear discussion.

For one thing it seems the old Gaullist dream of a strategically autonomous Europe free of American dominance with France in the driver's seat has come a step closer to reality. Emmanuel Macron, sensing this, is trying to step up to play that role. France's insistence (even within the Western alliance) on developing its own nuclear deterrent and maintaining its own wide-ranging global intelligence apparatus with very little reliance on US intelligence gathering, has proved far-sighted.