The writer is professor of government at Georgetown University and co-author of ‘Underground Empire’

Markets are now battlefields and the EU is scrambling to protect itself. From investment screening to export controls, Brussels is hard at work crafting an economic security apparatus. But it would be a mistake for Europe to target its defences primarily at China. With Donald Trump’s near-certain nomination as the Republican candidate for US president, the EU needs to quickly redouble its efforts or risk leaving itself woefully exposed. 

It is hard to understate the scale of the needed transformation. The EU was founded on the idea that openness and trade were channels for peace and prosperity, not vectors of vulnerability. Surprisingly, Europe has already started to adapt to these unexpected risks, releasing an economic security agenda supported by a raft of policy proposals.