Atlas News editorial analysis | Opinion piece
In the grand salons of old Europe, with expensive paneling and period upholstery, the rustle of brocade is heard again. Elegant clothes from long-gone times, but worn at the elbows. The nobles have gathered at a table set with silverware and crystal and, as in any classic story, the subject is not their own waste, but the neighbor. The American neighbor. The one who has money from his own success, invests in real estate and industry, speaks loudly and directly, does not ask permission, and does not apologize for existing.
The recent statements by French President Emmanuel Macron and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier were presented publicly as alarm signals for the international order. “The U.S. is distancing itself from its allies,” Paris says. “The U.S. is destroying the world’s values,” Berlin warns. The world, in this view, would become “a den of thieves.”
A spectacular wording. But also a profoundly selective one.
A Very Short Memory
Europe’s nobles seem to have forgotten a few inconvenient details. For example, that without the “ill-mannered” Americans, today a good part of the continent would be speaking German not out of diplomatic politeness, but out of historical obligation. They have forgotten that the reconstruction of Western Europe was not done through French poetry or German philosophy, but through American money, delivered through the Marshall Plan—without which ruins would have remained ruins for much longer.
They have also forgotten something even more sensitive: the comfortable peace in which their countries developed for decades. The American security umbrella was not a slogan, but a reality financed, maintained, and assumed primarily by the United States. While Europe built generous welfare states, bloated bureaucratic systems, and sophisticated moral discourse, the security bill was, to a large extent, paid from across the Atlantic.
Colonialism, the New Favorite Insult
Invoking “new forms of colonialism and imperialism” sounds good in a speech. It is a formula that triggers old reflexes and powerful emotions. The problem is that it comes from states that practiced real, historical, systematic colonialism for far longer than modern America. To speak about American imperialism while ignoring your own colonial past is, at best, a form of selective amnesia.
America did not ask Europe to disarm, to become strategically dependent, or to turn dependency into a virtue. Europe chose this path on its own—comfortable as long as someone else paid the final bill.
When the Protector Leaves, Only Pride Remains
Today, when Washington shifts its priorities, when it openly says it is no longer willing to support indefinitely a Europe that criticizes but does not contribute proportionally, the reaction is not introspection. It is arrogance. It is the superior tone of nobles left with bankrupt properties who, instead of fixing their roof, speak with emphasis about the lack of manners of the prosperous neighbor.
America does not “destroy the world’s values.” America is redefining its interests. And the difference between the two is essential. The values invoked by European leaders have, many times, been comfortably applied selectively, depending on domestic political costs and benefits.
A Story About Hypocrisy and Reality
The story is not about an American who comes to lecture civilization. It is about a Europe that has confused protection with a permanent right, help with eternal obligation, and alliance with the tacit subordination of someone else’s interests.
When America says “enough,” Europe responds with moral speeches. But speeches do not replace functional armies, solid defense industries, or assumed political decisions. At most, they replace applause in a hall full of mirrors at a ball financed with borrowed money.
The Conclusion Is Simple
Europe’s nobles can continue to gossip about the American neighbor, mock his style, and challenge his intentions. But the truth remains uncomfortable: without America, many of the privileges they defend so fiercely today would never have existed.
And when the protector leaves, it is not the protector who should be scolded, but those who confused protection with a natural right.
This is an opinion article. The viewpoints expressed belong to the author and reflect the editorial line of Atlas News, which supports a critical, realistic, and unsanitized analysis of international power relations.
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