Whose Side Is the US On? Doubts Strain Alliances

Winston Churchill told a story of an 1895 encounter, as a young cavalry officer, with the statesman William Harcourt. After some discussion of great issues, Churchill asked eagerly: “What will happen then?” Harcourt replied, with Victorian complacency: “My dear Winston, the experiences of a long life have convinced me that nothing ever happens.”

Few people 130 years later could succumb to any similar delusion in a world that seems to have consigned itself to perpetual turmoil. Most recently, Poland has frightened European capitals by electing a right-wing, anti-European Union president. The British government published a long-awaited strategic defense review, which proposes rearmament to bring about “war-fighting readiness,” according to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as Ukraine launched stunning drone strikes against five bomber bases deep inside Russia.