European leaders braced for a combative Munich Security Conference on Friday, with Germany’s Friedrich Merz noting starkly that the international world order “no longer exists” – one of the few points of agreement between the fractious allies in the transatlantic alliance.
Merz’s speech at the southern German conference, which brings together officials from across the world to discuss international security and hold diplomatic talks, highlighted the growing divide between the United States and Europe.
The German leader, of the center-right Christian Democratic Union party, warned that Europe’s freedom “is no longer a given” in an era of big powers ignoring international rules. He condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, calling for Europe to invest in strengthening its own deterrence. And he openly criticized US President Donald Trump’s administration for its policies on tariffs, climate change and culture wars – remarks that may ruffle some feathers in Washington.
But on the point of the previous world order being dead, the US administration seems in sync.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday night as he departed for Munich that “the old world is gone, frankly” and “we live in a new era in geopolitics.”
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