Europeans find Trump erratic, and the US no longer as benevolent. By Yaroslav Trofimov in The WSJ.

Crowning a year of disputes with the Trump administration over trade tariffs, support for Ukraine and the future of Greenland, the Iran war has placed America’s friends in Europe, Asia and the Middle East in front of an uneasy dilemma.

Their most important ally is acting in ways that they see as erratic and that have already caused hardship and uncertainty. The war has sapped their economies and even bigger shocks loom if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, deepening the worldwide energy crisis.

Many — on both sides of the Atlantic — wonder if they are even allies anymore. Angered by the refusal of European nations to join the war alongside the U.S. and Israel, President Trump has called European countries cowards, and threatened to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization altogether.

“The United States is unpredictable,” said Roderich Kiesewetter, a lawmaker from Germany’s ruling party, echoing a widespread sentiment in Europe. “It’s not a reliable partner anymore for the Western world.”

But they have no alternative to the US, because they can no longer do it for themselves:

Their quandary is that nobody else can substitute for America’s military and economic might in the foreseeable future. China and Russia also carry out predatory policies. It will take time for middle-sized democracies in Europe and Asia to wean themselves from dependencies on America and to intensify cooperation among themselves.

Ever since World War II, the U.S. was mostly a benevolent power for its fellow democracies and achieved its hegemony by consent, said Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. That’s not how Trump’s America is viewed today.

“If you insult your allies and push them to the brink in every negotiation, if you present your ugliest face to the world, then this consent will evaporate,” Fullilove said. “But what is the alternative to the U.S.-led alliance system? The U.S. is the only country that can project power anywhere on Earth. Who else will lead the West, if not Washington?” …

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that European and Asian allies, unlike the U.S., depend on energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz and should be the ones to step up and deal with the problem. He added that the U.S. will examine after the Iran war whether the NATO alliance has become “a one-way street” where America defends Europe, but is denied the use of its bases and overflight rights by some European states.

At Monday’s news conference, Trump touted his good relationship with North Korea’s leader as he complained about South Korea’s refusal to join the war on Iran, and said that he still wants Greenland. …

Greenland was too much for the Europeans. But what if the US wants it as a price for keeping them safe, Iran non-nuclear, and the Straits of Hormuz open?

The January crisis over Trump’s attempt to seize the Danish possession of Greenland, when it seemed for a few days that the U.S. might launch a military operation against its European allies, became a key turning point for European leaders.

“This will never be forgotten,” said retired French Lt. Gen. Michel Yakovleff. “Psychologically, Trump talking about taking Greenland was the equivalent of a father talking, jokingly, of raping one of his daughters. Obviously, it’s a new world in the family after that.”

Outrage at Trump’s America is evident from opinion polling. Some 34% in Europe’s biggest nations view the U.S. as a threat, a figure comparable or even higher than the perceived threat from China, North Korea or Iran, according to a YouGov poll released in February, before the war began. Only Russia is considered a bigger danger. Such attitudes explain why no traditional ally in Europe or Asia yielded to Trump’s demands to join the military campaign, and to deploy forces to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz to free navigation.

In fact, the current war is the first major conflict in a century that the U.S. is waging without any of its traditional allies. Almost every NATO member showed up in Afghanistan. Countries like the United Kingdom and Spain joined the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Dozens of nations participated in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. Even in Vietnam, American troops were helped by Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand.

Globalists all line up on one side, patriots and realists on the other.