All other things being equal, Putin is presenting Europe with the same expansionist challenge as the Nazi dictator, whose methods he is scrupulously applying at home.
The new American leaders' lack of culture, combined with an over-inflated ego and unbridled populism, mean that they believe they can negotiate with anyone and anything.
This is yet another mistake. It didn't work with Kim Jong Un, the North Korean satrap; it won't work with the one in the Kremlin, who has doped and duped his people into a revisionism reminiscent of Germany in the 1930s.
Whatever the outcome of these as yet uncertain negotiations - which will not take place without Europe - it is the Europeans who will ultimately dictate the terms, because they are the ones who will be implementing them to compensate for America's long-suspected abandonment of our continent.
For many, this is a revolution. It is rather more a period of great risk, a moment of truth for a continent that is once again confronted with war and must face up to it, including militarily. And for example, NATO without the Americans could be the very instrument of this.
