With his Iran Nuclear Deal withdrawal, President Donald Trump has sent Mr Putin a spectacular gift for his new term as Russia's President: higher oil prices, Iran's bigger dependence on the Kremlin, deepening divisions among the Western 'allies' as well as now the much more widespread feeling that you cannot trust the collective West.
Ironically, the EU leaders are on the same page as Mr. Putin is in this drama.
On the other hand, China's President Xi Jinping will think 10x on terms & conditions before striking any 'deal' with Mr Trump, especially the much awaited and publicised Korea deal of June 12, 2018 - where Mr Kim Jong-un of North Korea is going to play a role written for him in detail by Beijing. But for Beijing choices here are rather limited. Luckily, USA is "prepared to help North Korea flourish".
For Middle East: for better or worse - US withdrawal means more chaos designed to 'assist' Israel. This paradoxically makes Vladimir Putin again an indispensable partner both for the EU countries and... the USA.
For EU, Trump's withdrawal constitutes a well-planned, perfect embarrassment: for sure, Mr Juncker and other EU 'leaders' wish that USA has 50 presidents or prime ministers (EU has 28 for the moment) instead of having JUST THAT ONE: DONALD TRUMP.
Finally, for EU3 - in particular, for President Trump's best friend Macron and Mr Obama's best friend Angela Merkel: reality check = humiliation. Between rock and a hard place there isn't actually much space.
Welcome to a post-global, cartoon world or maybe back in 19th century? Who knows... Probably, the 'best' of both of them.
Bruno Surdel
Political Analyst
