Feb. 27—“The end is nigh” is the substance of the common wails issuing from the major British media these days. Take the case of an article in the Feb. 25 Financial Times by their Chief Economic Commentator, CBE Martin Wolf, which carries the blunt headline: “The U.S. Is Now the Enemy of the West.” In it, Wolf bemoans the fact that “Washington has decided to abandon both Ukraine and its postwar role in the world,” and as a result “today, not only are autocracies increasingly confident. The U.S. is moving to their side. That is the lesson of the last two weeks.” His desultory conclusion: “The ‘west’ is dead…. In response, Europe will either rise to the occasion or disintegrate. Europeans will need to create far stronger co-operation embedded in a robust framework of liberal and democratic norms. If they do not, they will be picked to pieces by the world’s great powers. They must start by saving Ukraine from Putin’s malevolence.”

London’s The Economist was not to be outdone, writing: “Faced with a collapsing transatlantic alliance, stunned European leaders this week began a diplomatic effort to salvage what is left of it, and try to bring Donald Trump back from the brink over Ukraine…. Previously partial to unilateral diplomacy, Mr. Macron this time spoke to 30 European and allied leaders ahead of his visit to Washington and has worked closely on security plans with Britain.”

A second, lengthier article in The Economist asked “Can Europe Confront Vladimir Putin’s Russia on Its Own?” The short answer was “no.” “In truth, it could take a decade before Europe is able to defend itself without America’s help.”

The article quoted Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former secretary-general of NATO, who wrote an essay for The Economist: “The security architecture that Europe has relied on for generations is gone and is not coming back. Europe must come to terms with the fact that we are not only existentially vulnerable, but also seemingly alone.”