A Donald Trump presidency is THE key to lasting peace in Europe, says Erbil Gunasti

Fish rot from the head down: All the major problems currently facing Europe emanate from the world’s dominant superpower – the United States - and in particular the 46th Administration and its determination to meddle.

Joe Biden gave an interview just before the 2020 presidential election in which he said he would work with the opposition in Turkey to bring down the Erdogan regime. If this isn’t proof of his desire to interfere in the internal affairs of another sovereign nation, what it is?

The same Democrats that bemoaned Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election were openly – at the same time - demanding regime change in another, democratic country.

The hypocrisy was breathtaking. And it hasn’t worked: Last week Erdogan was re-elected for another five years.

The globalist political elite in Washington DC have also, in recent years, tried to subtly tempt Erdogan’s Turkey into conflict with Greece - to pursue their own geopolitical aims. And, when that failed, they instead insisted on pushing NATO eastwards, ultimately triggering the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Today there are more than a dozen US military bases in Turkey, scattered across the entire country. The pretext - that they're needed as a precaution against Russian aggression - may be believed by millions in the brainwashed West, but it is a total fallacy.

Vladimir Putin made a tactical mistake attacking Ukraine. He allowed the Biden administration and its allies to burrow under his skin, to believe the NATO hype and – in an act perhaps even he ultimately believed to be self-defence - become the aggressor.

But his armed forces are stretched and his motivation limited. He has no desire to expand the conflict, provided the Russian Federation is not directly attacked.

The key date for Putin – and indeed for the immediate future of Europe – is Tuesday, November 5 2024.

If a Republican, like Donald Trump, were to come to power as the 47th president of the United States, preaching an “America First” vision of the future, Vladimir Putin will have very little to gain and everything to lose from further military action.

Russia is extremely well-placed to benefit from the explosive economic growth of China and the other rising economic powers of the East. By aligning itself to those fast emerging nations, as it has already has done with its membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, opportunity abounds.

A Republican victory in next year’s US presidential election will change everything and take a huge amount of heat off Putin. He will no longer have to worry about the threat from the West and the eastern expansion of NATO.

With no globalist agenda in the White House, Poland and Germany will again be seen as partners by Moscow. The British and French too allow their foreign policy to be dictated by the United States and with Trump back in power and aiming to build bridges with Putin, Russia will cease to view the major nations of western Europe as a antagonistic cabal.

Turkey has a critical role to play. A Muslim country and leading NATO member with the second largest military in the alliance, it sits – geographically and culturally – at the fulcrum of the European/Asian relationship.

Now Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been re-elected for another five years with an absolute majority in Parliament, he can legislate at will.

In his letter of congratulation to Erdogan last week, Putin referred to the Turkish leader as his “Dear friend”. He also cited the development of the joint Turkish-Russian Akkuyu nuclear power plant and the creation of a new gas hub.

Turkey – strategically critical as the gatekeeper to the Black Sea – has sought to maintain civilised relations with both Russia and the West, but Erdogan’s re-election certainly provides a lot of reassurance for Vladimir Putin that he has friends in Ankara.

It's increasingly likely that Putin will be less of a threat to Europe from now on. But to truly end the nightmare that has unfolded in Ukraine and, for a time, looked set to spread, the West will have to hold its nose – and cross its fingers – for a Donald Trump return to the Oval Office.

* Erbil Gunasti is an American-based TV producer and author of the book GameChanger. He also runs the popular Fighting For One America blog