With Europe, America's staunchest ally being increasingly unable to get its act together, Ana Palacio says the "liberal international order that has helped stabilize the world since the end of the Cold War is under strain." The Old Continent is being engulfed by a refugee crisis, which has a "revanchist Russia" and the "chaos in the Middle East" to thank for. So it has little interest to share America's headache in Asia - "simmering tensions in the South China Sea," and to help defend its system - the Pax Americana.

The onset of the 21st century forces Europe and America to face "a shift in economic power from the West to the East." Western-led "formal institutions" like the IMF, the World Bank, which support the "Washington Consensus" are being weakened by China and other emerging economies, even though they had benefited from free trade, floating exchange rates, free markets and macroeconomic stability. The "widespread disaffection" of voters in the West, who complain about dwindling incomes and the decline in living standards, pose a challenge to mainstream political parties, due to the rise of far-right and far-left populist parties. But the author has identified "two key developments that have been eroding the liberal international order: the United States’ withdrawal from global leadership and Europe’s prolonged crisis."

She claims "there have been signs that the US is beginning to reassert itself" in recent years to counter "global threats." Its new "military budget" serves to fund "naval operations in Asia," and to restock "the military arsenal depleted in the fight against the Islamic State" etc. As the EU is being plagued by crises, the US has quadrupled military spending in Europe to support "NATO allies in the face of Russia’s aggression.” However reassuring this message may be, the author finds it not at all "encouraging," because America is letting its European allies feel that they are feckless. Besides, the Baltic states are genuinely "vulnerable" to Russia's aggression. Apart from realising "that the threat posed by Russia cannot be left unchecked," the main reason for this "engagement" is that Washington needs "Europe’s weight that has served as the critical mass required to move the world’s liberal order in a positive direction." The US economy is no longer as strong as it once was, while the EU economy is still the world's largest.

The author fears that this "latest US security bailout raises the possibility that after more than two decades of growing prominence, Europe will lose its agenda-setting power." Instead of taking matters into its own hands, Europe is not an "actor" but an "object" in geopolitics, "reminiscent of the Cold War," during which the Old Continent was "the chessboard on which the US and the Kremlin play for advantage."

For decades "Europe was America’s partner of first resort. Now, when it is needed once again, the EU is slipping toward the sidelines." The author says: "Unless its leaders change course, the painful unraveling of the liberal world order will continue." The question is whether EU leaders care, and if they have foresight at all. They are too focused on their own political career that they mainly have their voters' interests, but not necessarily their countries' future at heart.