Sandy Garossino and Vina Nadjibulla are back with the Mortal Giants podcast, and a new conversation about the fragility of power in the 21st century. After almost a century of post-war prosperity and unrivaled American power, we've entered a new era of growing uncertainty and realignment as many of the world's nations now seek to challenge that dominance. And that became even truer after the U.S. election that will return Donald Trump to the presidency in January, 2025.
In episode six, “Trump and the Post-American World,” Sandy and Vina talk about which world powers will lose and which will gain in the Trump presidency.
“I think if Ukraine is probably the biggest loser, [the] European Union would be the second biggest loser from this election,” Vina said. “President Trump has shown a lot of hostility towards the European Union and the concept of a united Europe — and has no interest to deal with Brussels and [the] EU as a bloc. He prefers to work bilaterally with certain European leaders like the president of Hungary.
The U.S. and the EU have decades of political and cultural cooperation and the largest bilateral trade and investment relationship in the world.
“I think a lot will depend on whether or not Europe is able to unite in the way that the French president is now saying, ‘well, if it's America First, then we also need to have a “Europe First” approach,’” she said.
Canada, Vina says, in its diplomatic dispute with India over the murder of a Canadian, has benefited from U.S. President Biden’s call for accountability and justice. It is not likely Trump will continue that.
“Trump is not happy about trade issues with respect to India. He finds that India is very protectionist and closed off so there will be points of friction between a Trump administration and India, especially on issues around immigration and trade — but on issues of transnational repression, I think Trump is going to essentially give a free pass,” Vina said.
Mortal Giants is hosted by Sandy Garossino with Vina Nadjibulla. Sandy is a former Crown prosecutor and has been the public affairs columnist for Canada’s National Observer responsible for some groundbreaking investigations. Vina is the vice-president of Research and Strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. She is a frequent media commentator on geopolitics, Canadian foreign policy, and Canada-Asia relations.
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