BERLIN — It was a helluva week in the hellhole. Paris was “burning;” Brexit a “psychodrama;” autocracy was “making a comeback.”

You know Europe’s image is taking a hit when American liberals start feeling superior.

Even the staid Wall Street Journal was concerned: “Divisions over economics, culture and geography are challenging governments’ longevity or their ability to pursue their agenda.”

Translation: Europe’s screwed.

But is it?

At a time when terrorists are on the rampage, Italy’s cooking the books and Viktor Orbán has become Central Europe’s answer to Il Duce, it’s tempting to pile on the EU.

Europe lacks real leadership and vision; it has become, as Canadian composer Chilly Gonzales memorably put it, “a movie with no plot.”

And yet, as another annus horribilis draws to a close, it’s difficult to deny that Europe has once again survived more or less intact.

The paradox of Europe to foreigners and natives alike is that while it always seems like it's on disaster’s doorstep, doomsday never actually arrives (except, of course, in 1939, 1914, 1805, 455, etc ... but hey, all those days of the apocalypse predate the EU).

Indeed, given Europe’s myriad woes, its citizenry is surprisingly upbeat. Public backing for the EU is the highest it’s been in more than a generation, while support for the euro has reached record levels.

Across the Continent (with notable exceptions), trains run on time, health care and education are accessible to all and generally sound, the justice system fair and cities safe.

Though it’s easy to blame the media for Europe’s bad reputation, the real culprits are to be found among the Continent’s political leaders.

The region’s economy, though showing signs of strain, is still growing. Unemployment in the EU, though still a major challenge in some countries, has fallen to its lowest level since 2000.

At a time when free trade seems increasingly under siege, the EU concluded two landmark trade agreements, with Canada and Japan.

So while it’s easy to dismiss Europe as a place where nothing really works (Greece, Brexit, migration, Jean-Claude Juncker), somehow most everything does.

Even most populists have given up on trying to leave the EU.

Though it’s easy to blame the media for Europe’s bad reputation, the real culprits are to be found among the Continent’s political leaders.

Beginning with the euro crisis, politicians have been using the threat of Europe’s pending demise as a rhetorical bludgeon. “If the euro fails, then Europe will fail,” Angela Merkel first warned in 2010, as she tried to rally support for her bailout strategy.

“Europe must change or risk death,” Pierre Moscovici, France's EU commissioner, said in 2016.

“The project is in mortal danger,” Günther Oettinger, Germany's commissioner, declared in September, as he tried to win approval for his budget blueprint.

If the past decade of perpetual crisis has taught us anything, it’s that whatever happens next, Europe’s demise is the least likely outcome.

The danger is that the end-of-days prophecies will become self-fulfilling. Hardly a week passes without a political challenge being cast as a do-or-die moment for Europe.

Merkel’s recent decision to step down as leader of her party brought Europe’s would-be Cassandras out in force. Merkel’s pending exit didn’t just pose a significant challenge to the EU, it could have “dire consequences,” the Guardian warned, invoking the 1930s.

The latest ooh-la-la moment? France’s Yellow Jackets protests. Some fear the return of the guillotine and a revolution that could sweep across Europe. Others, especially Germans, are unsettled by President Emmanuel Macron’s response, specifically his decision to throw money at the problem — as if the entire Continent would crumble if France (and Italy) misses the EU’s arbitrary 3 percent deficit target.

Europe’s liberals, meanwhile, are rallying to save the French president.

For some, he’s the new euro: “If Macron fails, Europe fails,” Henrik Enderlein, a prominent German academic, warned over the weekend in a column for Der Spiegel.

If the past decade of perpetual crisis has taught us anything, it’s that whatever happens next, Europe’s demise is the least likely outcome.

With its aging population and unwieldy bureaucracy, the EU may not become the world's next economic motor. On the global stage, Europe is destined to remain the 50-year-old at the disco: well past its prime and hopelessly awkward in the company of the trendsetters.

Yet it will stay on the dance floor because what its citizens fear most is what could happen once the music stops.