At the same time, however, free movement of labor is important to economic growth in Europe, as it is in the United States. The United States has a huge stake in the outcome. In addition, the president has sought to resolve trade disputes with China and European countries through tariffs, rather than through the trade-dispute mechanisms of the World Trade Organization. Any American who thinks the world is unsafe now should contemplate a world in which there is no NATO, no European Union, no World Trade Organization, no U.N. In that world, constant trade wars could lead to real wars, and the United States, as the dominant power, invariably would be called upon to lead alone.

Source: New York Times September 16, 2018 19:18 UTC