Manlio Graziano: 'Europe still needs the US but they know they cannot trust Americans anymore'

François Picard is pleased to welcome Manlio Graziano, Professor of Geopolitics and Geopolitics of Religions at the American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy in Paris. He argues that we are living through a transitional moment as we embark on a new world order: the United States remains extraordinarily powerful, yet no longer functions as "the leader of the free world", capable of directing and stabilising the international system. There is a paradox of strength lacking discernment, control or guardrails, creating instability and volatility. For a half century, the United States has faced the limits of its global dominance, a realisation rooted in strategic failures ranging from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, this erosion of hegemony manifests as strategic incoherence. The United States retains the capacity to act—militarily and economically—but lacks a clear, unified direction. This generates disorder rather than leadership. All the while, Europe faces a profound recalibration: it can neither fully rely on the United States nor entirely detach from it requiring a strategic awakening.