The Nordstream 2 pipeline represents the last stand of U.S. influence over the internal affairs of Europe. Once finished it will stand as a testament to the fundamental split between the European Union and the United States. Europe will see this as its first successful defense of its newly-declared independence. And the U.S. will have to come to terms with no longer having control overseas. This is a theme repeating itself all around the world right now. Your view of Nordstream 2 depends on who you are. If you are the U.S. it is a massive rebuke of the post-WWII institutional order mostly paid for by the U.S. to rebuild Europe and protect it from the scourge of the U.S.S.R. From Europe’s perspective it’s, “ Job well done and all that but Russia isn’t a threat anymore and it is time for us to come out from underneath the […]