US President Barack Obama's recent speech at the Brandenburg Gate signs a new stage of US-EU agreements and a possible breakthrough in the world balances of power. He mentioned two relevant themes: democracy and peace, saying that Berlin remains the symbol of these two values.

The US hope is that Berlin, once the capital of both Nazi and Communist regimes, should represent a point of meeting where a new European idea can be born.

During the speech, German and US flags flew side by side as part of the perfect choreography, along with Obama's simple shirt, hugs and smiles with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and careful allusions to the famous visits of former presidents John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Ronald Reagan in 1987.

In a certain sense, the target remains the Kremlin. The Soviet Union nowadays is just a memory, but nuclear issues remain over the table of this never ending geopolitical match. Obama mentioned the START III program as a main target of his foreign policy goal to reduce the number of nuclear weapons owned by both the US and Russia.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin has already said he doesn't trust this speech. Russia cannot accept a reduction plan of its nuclear strategic forces until the Pentagon ends its national anti-missile shield project.

The balances of power would be so disproportionate to completely override what remains of the old Mutually Assured Destruction concept.

How can people trust Obama's words? Europe is living in one of the worst moments of its history and the economic decline produced by Brussels' austerity makes this meeting just a show.

Gay rights, freedom of speech and reduction of nuclear weapons could be shared or unshared themes, but the EU first of all urgently needs to save its economy.

The introduction by the EU Commission of new anti-dumping duties against Chinese solar panels suggests that this visit could start a new era in the trans-Atlantic partnership to facilitate mutual exchanges between the US and EU.

An unfulfilled power without a real common policy and a declining superpower are uniting their markets. Why?

On one side, they could enforce their existing military alliance, on the other side, they could resist the advance of rising powers, primarily the BRICS members.

But the landslide caused by uncontrolled liberalization in the West and political stagnation in the Soviet bloc already brought the world into the catastrophe of the 1990s with the emergence of a new global free market capitalist economy characterized by fear and uncertainty.

This means that the 21st century will be an enigmatic age, and one built step by step. Some say it will be the Chinese century, others an Asian one in general. In any case this age will be characterized by a hard and slow transformation of the old balances of power, where the West will need to let go of its dominant status.

A Western escalation of protectionism could be lethal at this point of history. It's impossible to ignore the fact that new non-Western rising countries are transforming the geography of the world. Not only China, but also other world powers such as Russia, India and Brazil and regional actors like Kazakhstan, Iran, Indonesia and Turkey are redefining the world order.

Resisting this means going against history and would have dramatic consequences inside the process of international peacekeeping, significantly increasing diplomatic crisis and wars.

It's evident that the peaceful words in Berlin could become the threat of war. The Cold War was ended 24 years ago, and the war on terror has completely failed in Afghanistan and Iraq. A new generation cannot comprehend the reasons for another global challenge to create another "American century."

In a continent without dreams, like present-day Europe, even the American dream has lost its charm.

The author is a journalist and foreign affairs analyst based in Perugia, Italy. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn