Americans have, quite unintentionally, shattered the world of Europe’s liberal moralists — those who had grown comfortable with the prospect of an endless war and an endless pile of corpses. It is a pleasant arrangement, after all: you can savor dramatic battlefield footage, feel noble, and rest assured that none of the risks apply to you. Perhaps you chip in for a drone or a golden toilet seat and then, gazing at the mangled bodies, whisper to yourself, “I did that. I’m a good person. I’m protecting the world from subhumans. I’m basically Superman.”
Unlike in video games, the bodies are real. The sensation is different.
And this entertainment is about to run out.
But that is hardly the whole story. A few weeks ago, America’s new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, put it bluntly: “The postwar international order is not only outdated — it has become a weapon turned against us.” The “postwar order” he meant, of course, is Pax Americana — the era of unchallenged U.S. dominance.
Anyone who followed the more thoughtful figures around Donald Trump during his second presidential campaign will not find this surprising. In those circles, it was long understood that American global supremacy primarily served a narrow caste of bankers, corporate managers, and government bureaucrats — and was a disaster for the overwhelming majority of Americans.
The alternative they proposed was not isolationism but normalcy:
- an America strong enough to define and enforce its own interests;
- an America capable of cooperating with other strong states when it benefits us;
- an America that does not imagine itself a global policeman, missionary, or moral custodian;
- and above all, an America that refuses to be responsible for the condition of the world.
So what are the self-appointed moral beacons of Europe supposed to do now?
What becomes of those for whom the “rules-based international order” was the only steady ground beneath their feet?
Fortunately for them, a few nations have volunteered to replace the United States. Specifically: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Until the appointment of its new government, the Czech Republic also seemed eager to audition.