It’s too soon to proclaim the death of the West
The ties that bind may be fraying but they have not come apart yet.
Reports of the death of the West have been exaggerated. Perhaps not “greatly exaggerated, as per the paraphrase of Mark Twain’s reaction to rumours of his demise, because it is fair to say the idea of a western alliance is coming under immense strain. However, to issue a death certificate is premature.
This week, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that “the West as we knew it no longer exists”. The hard evidence for that is not apparent. The ties that bind may be fraying but have not yet come apart. She may not have been invited to visit the White House and the “leader” of the Western world, but others have, among them Giorgia Meloni, Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron. The EU may not be in the “Five Eyes” intelligence sharing alliance, but it remains strong. The tariff war among the western nations may yet ignite, but to date has not.
The argument that Trump 2.0 is engaged in a full flight from multilateralism and towards American isolationism is overstated.
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