December 11, 2025, 6:08 p.mDecember 11, 2025, 6:08 p.m
The White House’s new strategy paper on national security (NSS) paints everything black. Europe is in a bad place. Europe is on the brink of “civilizational extinction”. Migration policy fuels conflicts that lead to censorship of free expression and suppression of political opposition, and there are serious concerns about whether the economic and military strength of certain nations is sufficient to continue to be reliable partners for the United States. In addition, some governments are said to be actively undermining political freedoms and the sovereignty of citizens.
The Financial Times points out that the tone of the NSS is implicitly racist. Migrants are framed as “uncivilized”. It is new that a strategy paper on US national security focuses so much on European social issues. The tonality is comparable to that of the AfD or Rassemblement National and definitely has a “national” touch.
The paper was written by political backbenchers – but approved by President Trump. This one recently doubled in its typical style. Europe is “very bad, very bad for the people”. Various indices show how bad (or not) it is.
Suppression of the opposition
A woman demonstrates on the occasion of International Women’s Day in Berlin.Image: www.imago-images.de
The NSS accuses Europe of suppressing opposition forces. It is clear who this means: the parties on the right-wing fringe – especially the AfD in Germany, which was not included in any government coalition despite high voter shares.
He tries to find out how democratic a country is The Economist’s Democracy Index to depict. The five indicators considered include the electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil rights. Pluralism – the opposite of oppression – is therefore taken into account.
How do the different countries perform? For the sake of clarity, we limit ourselves to the top three, the big four European economies (Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy), Switzerland and the USA.
Up to and including 25th place (Greece), the Economist rates the democracies as “complete”. France, the USA and Italy already fall into the category of “incomplete democracies”.
The fact that Europe does so well in the European Economist could have something to do with local values. Accordingly, a US index should also be taken into account here. But also in “Freedom in the World”According to the renowned Freedom House index, European democracies receive significantly better marks than the USA.
With a clear gap to the major European powers, Switzerland and the top three, the USA still has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to democracy. Since the surveys do not yet take Donald Trump’s second term into account, the next publications will be even more interesting.
“Rule of Law” index – the rule of law index
US court interviewing witnesses in a murder case.Image: keystone
The World Justice Project examines the rule of law in various countries. It is part of a functioning democracy, just like free elections – and is therefore an important indicator.
Once again, of the four major European powers, the USA leaves only Italy behind. At the top are once again the usual suspects from northern Europe.
Free expression
A man in Honduras reads a newspaperImage: keystone
What about the much-vaunted freedom of expression that the US says is in trouble in Europe? There is only an index for this in the form of freedom of the press, which is examined by various organizations. The most famous one comes from to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
In the current edition from May 2, 2025, the first 15 positions are exclusively occupied by European countries. The USA ranks 57th behind countries such as Sierra Leone, East Timor and Liberia. RSF assesses the situation in the USA as “problematic”.
Basic freedom indices
Statue of Liberty in the USA. According to statistics, it is in the wrong place.Image: keystone
In addition to those mentioned above, there are other indices that compare the freedom of citizens of different countries. Our first index comes from US Institute Cato. The organization’s goal is to “promote an American policy based on individual freedom, limited government, free markets and peaceful international relations.”
For once, the USA is not in last or second to last place in our selection, but manages to leave France and Italy behind. You are on a par with Great Britain, but not with the international elite.
The personal freedoms is also measured by the index of the conservative London think tank Legatum. It is part of the annual prosperity indicator. The complicated construct takes into account various indicators such as the right to self-determination, personal and legal independence, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly and association without government restrictions, freedom of expression, access to information without censorship and government intervention, absence of legal discrimination regarding gender, sexual orientation, religion, minorities and working conditions, etc. The data is from 2019, but the picture remains the same:
The USA finds itself back in familiar territory: ahead of Italy, but behind the rest of the field. You can twist and turn it however you want, but three of the four major economic powers in Europe – and many other countries on the old continent – really don’t need a lesson in civilization, democracy and civil liberties from the USA.
Where the USA is a world leader
Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki visits Polish troops in Latvia. Image: keystone
Of course, there are also areas in which the USA is a leader: in military spending, for example.
In the area of economic freedom, the USA also manages to leave behind Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy (5th place, Switzerland 4th) – but only when measuring Fraser Institute. The ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation sees Germany (23rd place) ahead of the USA (27th place). Here too, Switzerland ranks at the top (2nd place behind Singapore).
Declaration of war against the EU
It is nothing new that the current US government is not taking the truth seriously. But what are the baseless accusations about?
As was announced today, There is a longer, previously unpublished version of the NSS mentioned at the beginning. It implies the US intention to drive a wedge between the EU and individual members. For this purpose, various parties, organizations and influencers should be specifically supported. Ideally, the Trump administration hopes to achieve a secession from Italy, Hungary, Poland and Austria. Some experts called the NSS paper a “Declaration of War”. The expression is probably not an understatement.
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