Last week, Vice President J. D. Vance gave a speech to a shocked audience at the Munich Security Conference attacking liberal internationalism and defending a host of far-right parties across Europe. While his claims about the suppression of free speech across the continent, which focused almost exclusively on the far right and ignored attacks on pro-Palestine protests and left-wing parties, were cynical and disingenuous, he managed to strike a nerve.

For decades, European and American leaders have been committed to a vision of international security cooperation that has largely worked to promote the interests of the US’s foreign policy establishment. Faced with the rise of China, the United States has now decided to change the rules of the game, threatening to turn its back on Europe after fostering decades of dependence.

In an interview with Jacobin, historian Daniel Bessner explains how we ought to understand this new moment in US-European relations. Should Donald Trump be seen as someone attempting to dismantle American empire, or is his turn away from liberal internationalism simply an embrace of a more authoritarian global order?