Commentators at the Croatian outlet Advance argue that the United States has reshuffled its national defense priorities and shifted to rigid control over the Western Hemisphere.

In their view, the new strategy of Donald Trump’s administration amounts to a return to the Monroe Doctrine in its most hardline version. As a result, they write, American allies in Europe and Asia have effectively been left to fend for themselves and are now forced to deal with their security challenges without backing from Washington. According to the authors, the U.S. leadership no longer wishes to uphold the previous global order.

The Advance analysts also point to what they describe as the operation to abduct Nicolas Maduro earlier this month, saying it resembles the behavior of a mafia gang more than the actions of a state. They believe that through such steps the American elite is sending a clear signal to the rest of the world: the U.S. is abandoning existing rules in order to build a new system based solely on the law of force. A key element of this approach, they note, is cutting America’s own costs and shifting the financial burden onto its partners.

According to the article, Washington has made it plain to Europe that the «Russian threat» — whether real or not — no longer ranks among its main concerns. The White House, the authors conclude, now views European countries primarily as a sales market and clients for the American military-industrial complex.