THE NEW WORLD
The world you grew up in no longer exists.
(Translation of my op-ed in Nettavisen, Norway’s 5th largest news outlet, January 5, 2026)
Most of us grew up in deep peace and struggle to grasp that we now live in a state of war. It will define an entire generation whether we manage to face this reality and find a way out of the existential crisis Europe is now finding itself in.
Russia has launched an unprovoked, imperial war on Europe, with the goal of annihilating Ukraine as a state. If it succeeds, the rules-based world order and liberal European democracy as we know them will collapse. Eleven years into the war, this is old news.
The betrayal
Many still believe we are safe in NATO, with the United States as our ultimate guarantor. That is no longer true, because the US is in the process of abandoning democracy.
The warning came in the American vice president’s speech at the Munich Security Conference in February, where he pointed to our liberal values as Europe’s greatest threat – not Russia’s genocide against a democratic neighbour. Slightly shocked European leaders comforted themselves that at least this did not reflect official US policy. That illusion is now gone.
The recently published US national security strategy represents a radical break with democracy. For 80 years, the US has treated Russia as its primary security-policy adversary; that era is over. Europe, the US’s ally for generations, is now explicitly cast in the role of strategic rival.
The United States is not withdrawing from international relations, as many had expected, but instead wants to lead an interventionist policy and actively interfere in European elections in favour of far‑right parties. The aim is to weaken and reshape liberal European democracies – to make them more MAGA. This is now official American policy.
The revelation in the Wall Street Journal on 28 November underlines the Trump administration’s true intentions. It documents a Russian intelligence operation targeting the incoming administration, where Trump and his closest advisers have for over a year been tempted with lucrative business deals if they just help Russia “solve the Ukrainian problem”. The pitch is simple: normalize relations with Russia, make big money with Putin – but first force Zelensky into a bad deal so the fighting stops. In this narrative, Europe and Ukraine become the obstacle to peace, not the Russia that started the war and has rejected every serious attempt at negotiations.
Throughout 2025, Trump has appeared erratic and inconsistent on support for Ukraine. In reality this is a planned charade, coordinated with Russia, designed to fracture Western unity and erode support for Ukraine. The ongoing “peace talks” are part of the same performance and have no realistic chance of succeeding.
The American presidential administration appears compromised. We have no definitive evidence for “Agent Krasnov,” but Trump is doing everything in his power to confirm this conspiracy theory.
The administration’s concrete actions in 2025 confirm the strategic break with Europe. The US provides no military support to Ukraine, refuses to adopt strong sanctions despite a large majority in Congress, blames Zelensky for the war, sidelines Europe, and seeks to pressure Ukraine into capitulation.
Russia’s war goals remain unchanged
Well aware that one of Ukraine’s most important allies is listening to Putin’s false narrative, now Russia repeats its maximalist war goals. If Ukraine falls, the occupier will mobilize Ukraine’s resources and forcibly recruit the Ukrainian army into the Russian one. This already done in the occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine.
In such a scenario, NATO will not be able to stop Russia. It is also plausible to argue that NATO in practice no longer exists, when its largest member country actively cooperates with the enemy.
US collaborates with an imperialist Russia that carries out crimes against humanity in its imperial attack on our freedom. We have democratic friends in Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and more, and we can hope that our leaders are smart and build alliances with these countries that share our values. But in practice, Europe is now alone in stopping the enemy of fascism. The war is here. Now people must wake up!
Hope
Fortunately, there are bright spots. Russian propaganda, aided by weak news coverage in the West, paints a false picture of an invincible Russia inexorably advancing on the battlefield, against a Ukrainian army on the verge of collapse. This the narrative is false. This is information warfare intended to weaken Western support for Ukraine. But the war is going much worse for Russia than many are aware of.
After almost 12 years of war, the last 4 of which with all resources invested, Russia now occupies only 20% of Ukrainian territory. Russia has lost over 1.2 million soldiers. Ukraine’s strategy of slow withdrawal is a conscious choice, where the attacker has to pay dearly for every meter occupied. The fact that the front line moves in the wrong direction is not a sign of weakness. It is a methodological approach to defeat a larger but less agile opponent.
Russian industry has big problems, while Ukraine itself now produces more than 50% of the material they need for the war. Russia’s economy collapses, while Europe has decided to finance Ukraine’s defense spending for the next 2 years. This is a hard blow to Russia. This industrial war is won by the side that holds out the longest economically, and the pendulum just tipped in Ukraine’s favor.
Many have criticized Europe for not taking responsibility, for not being present in the decision-making processes about its own future. But the irritated reactions and abusive words that are now coming from Russia and the United States are precisely the kind of reactions one should expect when a great power makes decisions that limit the room for action of other powers. Escalating rhetoric from Putin is proof that Europe begins to act as a great power.
Europe is waking up and now resists the Russian attack, but we lack a clear strategy for how to win the war. We need a victory plan. Now.
Because the world you grew up in no longer exists.
Spot on! A durable peace requires an honest diagnosis. Russia’s war against Ukraine did not begin with NATO. It is the product of imperial ambition, rejection of Ukrainian sovereignty, divergent societal trajectories, and a demonstrated disregard for binding agreements. Ignoring these realities risks repeating the mistakes that made the war possible.
In short all these Russian reasons for invading Ukraine are much in line with Trump’s thinking. Furthermore you are right Russia is losing. But we need to help them win this year 2026 fast and decisively.