A deepening ideological rift between Europe and the United States is beginning to mirror the Sino-Soviet split of the 1960s, according to political commentator and IntelliNews contributor Arnaud Bertrand.

Bertrand draws a historical parallel between the present-day strain in transatlantic relations and the rupture that once split the Communist bloc, with the roles now inverted: the US taking on the position of the Soviet Union, and Europe that of a disillusioned junior partner.

The foundation of the split started under Stalin and Chairman Mao, who resented the USSR dominance, viewing the USSR as condescending and unwilling to treat China as an equal. However, it grew more pronounced after Nikita Khrushchev took over following Stalin’s death in 1954.

Today a similar story is playing out with Trump, who has just downgraded the EU to a commercial interest according to the new National Security Strategy (NSS), whereas the EU still considers itself to be America’s equal and closest friend.

"I'm really struck by the similarities between what we're witnessing in Europe-US relations and the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s," Bertrand said. He likens President Donald Trump's shift in global strategy to Khrushchev’s doctrine of “peaceful coexistence” during the Cold War — an approach that eventually led to a major schism with Maoist China.

"Khrushchev pursued 'peaceful coexistence' in large part to avoid military confrontation and redirect resources toward the Soviet world," Bertrand explained. "His (somewhat deluded) promise was to 'catch up and overtake' the West economically. Eerily similar here: 'peaceful coexistence' is quite literally what Trump is now saying he wants to achieve with Russia."

The NSS prioritises domestic concerns and the Western hemisphere. "It redefines the competition with China as primarily economic rather than military," he said. "The very title of the China chapter in the NSS is 'Win the Economic Future, Prevent Military Confrontation' — almost verbatim Khrushchev."

In this reframing, Bertrand argues, it is the Europeans who now perceive Washington as ideologically unmoored. "Europeans, the junior partners, now explicitly view the US as 'revisionists'," he said using a Maoist term and citing recent comments by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, leader of the traditionally pro-American CDU party. "Merz is now saying that 'Pax Americana' is over, 'no longer exists', and that there's no point being nostalgic about it because 'it is how it is'."

That is a remarkable change of tone for a conservative German leader. "There's no overstating just how extraordinary it is for a German chancellor, and all the more a CDU chancellor, to say this and frame US-Europe relations as fundamentally adversarial," he said.

Bertrand notes the irony in the origins and trajectory of the Ukraine war. "The war in Ukraine, at its heart, flared up because of the expansion of the transatlantic alliance. And it's now ending up destroying it," Bertrand remarked.

"The key question to ask is," Bertrand concluded, "if Trump is Khrushchev, who can be Deng?"