With U.S. leadership in doubt, can its allies chart their own course?

"Even before President Trump returned to the White House earlier this year, conversations with diplomatic and security officials across Europe and Asia revealed a deep contradiction. On the one hand, U.S. allies fear the breakdown of the international order that has underpinned their stability in recent decades. On the other, they are hesitant to invest in the structural changes needed to adapt to a more uncertain world."

"The foreign ministers of these seven countries and Poland, another key European security player, met recently on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, acknowledging that "peace, security and resilience in the Indo-Pacific and Europe are becoming more intertwined". Meeting in a new format, and without the U.S. present even while on U.S. soil, they promised to cooperate more closely on maritime security, cybersecurity, economic security, climate change and broader geopolitical uncertainties."

U.S. allies feared a breakdown of the international order that underpinned their postwar stability but hesitated to fund structural adaptations to rising uncertainty. Recent months show growing willingness among European and Indo-Pacific allies to coordinate on trade, defense, alliance management and responses to China. The U.K., France and Germany align with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea as democratic middle powers committed to open trade and investment. Foreign ministers from those seven countries plus Poland met at the U.N. General Assembly and pledged cooperation on maritime security, cybersecurity, economic security, climate change and broader geopolitical uncertainties. Economic policy priorities include shielding supply chains from Beijing's leverage and resisting rising protectionism.

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