Politicians in my home country, Norway, repeatedly claim and stress that we have to follow and support with military means United States military ventures in Afghanistan, Iraq and (after leading from behind) in Libya, otherwise no help will be forthcoming if Norway were to be threatened by or become the victim of military aggression from Russia or possibly even China. The strategy as well as the argument is deeply flawed. Norwegian forces are only meant to sustain operations for twenty-four hours before being killed off, and the Americans come to our rescue. The prospects of this scenario are very bleak, indeed. Even when being ‘saved’ from the Russians, Norway will at best end up as an American client state or at worst a vassal state. Besides, there is no need for Norwegian forces to follow the American lead. Since the peace in Utrecht in 1713, the largest non-continental European power has never accepted that continental Europe was controlled by a major competitor. We see this in the century-long struggle for hegemony between Britain and France to 1815, Britain’s great game of empire with Russia to 1907 (which admittedly had more at stake than a struggle for European supremacy) and Britain’s wars with Germany since 1914. A competition that goes back even before the First World War with Germany’s claim to colonies and a naval challenge to Pax Britannica from at least the turn of the previous century.

Great Britain was, of course, a major player in the Cold War after the conclusion of the Second World War. British policy has been augmented and partially replaced by the United States since 1917. For the Americans, obviously, the control of continental Europe by hostile power, whether the president is Truman or Trump is a red line not to be crossed. We saw this early in his presidency when Trump’s behavior cast doubts on the American commitment to NATO, and Republican members of Congress travelled Europe to assure anxious European politicians that the alliance was rock solid. It is not the first time Congress has overruled a president or the first time Republican members of Congress have overruled their own president.