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The 56th Munich Security Conference that took place from 14th to 16th February had chosen \u201cWestlessness\u201d as its theme, i.e. the world without the West. The result went beyond all expectations. This \u201cDavos of security\u201d produced a striking picture: a world becoming more savage, the West breaking up and a Europe paralyzed in face of the disorderly withdrawal of the USA driven by Donald Trump’s national-populism. The conference naturally turned to the conflict between the USA and China. Mark Esper, Secretary of State for Defense, called for a check on China and a ban on Huawei \u2013 \u201ca Trojan horse for Chinese intelligence\u201d<\/em>. He was supported by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who denounced the \u201cdigital autocracy<\/em>\u201d of Beijing. Esper accused the Chinese of being thieves, which immediately triggered a response from Wang Li, China’s Foreign Affairs Minister, who called the Americans liars.<\/span><\/p>\n These words seem to have been dug up from the 1950s, but the current de-Westernization of the world is very different from those post-war years. The West no longer has a leader nor any common values, institutions or spirit. The Munich conference threw a harsh light on the disappearance of US leadership; Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, was greeted with a glacial silence when he said \u201cThe West is winning<\/em>\u201d \u2013 which amounts to fake news at a time when the West is breaking up and suffering one reversal after another. US reassurance with regard to democracies has become virtual, as highlighted by the NATO crisis \u2013 if Donald Trump wins a second mandate, it is far from certain that NATO can survive. Europeans are divided and paralyzed by the UK’s removal from the diplomatic and strategic scene after Brexit, and by disagreement over the whys and wherefores of rearmament. In displaying their disagreements and powerlessness, the democracies are making the same mistakes as they made in the 1930s when up against major deflation and the rise of totalitarian states.<\/span><\/p>\n The presence of Emmanuel Macron in Munich and above all his change of tone were the only positive aspect of the conference. In abandoning provocative remarks about NATO being \u201cbrain dead<\/em>\u201d, which had provoked a unanimous outcry from our allies, and not giving moral lessons or talking about pie-in-the-sky dreams of a European army, he finally came down to reality and tried to take account of the concerns of our European partners. And, following on from his speech on deterrence at the \u00c9cole de guerre [the Paris training school for army officers] on 7th February, he proposed to begin discussions on strategy with other Europeans that would include the nuclear element.<\/span><\/p>\n Germany’s position is the decisive one. Europe cannot rethink its security without it, for it is the leading economic power and a pivot between eastern and western Europe. No more can Germany rethink its security without the rest of Europe. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier strongly recommended that Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to begin talks should be taken up; Angela Merkel took refuge in absence. In short, on the German side, those who want to invest in security cannot do so and those who can, do not want to. We shall have to wait for the post-Merkel era and hope that this comes as soon as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n