The Internationalism

Internationalism No. 85, March 2026 Page 10 On January 9 th , the European Council authorised the signing of the agreement with Mercosur, the customs union comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. The decision by the 27 member States, taken by majority vote, overrode strong opposition from France, with Poland, Austria, Hungary, and Ireland also voting against and Belgium abstaining. Ratification by the European Parliament is still pending, as it has requested a legal opinion from the Court of Justice in Luxembourg, but both the Council and the Commission seem inclined to apply the agreement provisionally, as urged by the German and Italian governments. Meanwhile, on January 17 th , Presidents Antônio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen flew to South America to seal the deal, moving to close a 30-year political battle. False breakthroughs and ultimatums The EU’s strategic interest in Mercosur was already evident in the mid-199...

Internationalism No. 84, February 2026 Page 11 The hunger for capital and raw materials which drives Donald Trump's challenges is indicative of the anxieties of the leading imperialisms, pressured by the steady maturation of Chinese imperialism. American power is in relative decline, and although still the best equipped, it does not have sufficient strength to continue playing the role of a hegemonic power, as it has done more or less since 1945 amid numerous crises. In 1973, Charles Kindleberger [1910-2003] , an important historian of the Great Depression, derived from the historical experience of the hegemonic systems of the United Kingdom and the United States five imperatives concerning the role of the leader or stabiliser country: 1) maintain a relatively open market for surplus goods; 2) provide long-term countercyclical or at least stable loans; 3) maintain a relatively stable exchange rate system; 4) ensure the coordination of macroeconomi...

Internationalism No. 73, March 2025 Page 9 In January 2017, as soon as he took office in the White House, Donald Trump signalled the new trade policy of the United States with two immediate moves: the exit from the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) and the project for a wall on the border with Mexico. These were accompanied by the threat to abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). That thunderous debut now seems almost moderate, compared to the flurry of arrogant announcements and orders with which his second presidency has begun. Multiple fronts In just a few weeks, Trump has deployed an impressive and omni-directional arsenal of tariffs, making no distinction between allies and adversaries. The first targets were imports from Canada and Mexico, the US’s biggest trading partners. These 25% tariffs were immediately put on hold for a month, in exchange for symbolic concessions from the two neighbouring governments, aimed at countering the suppos...