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Commentary
Wall Street Journal

America Hits the Global Snooze Button

In an increasingly alarming world, the West can’t afford to rest for much longer.

walter_russell_mead
walter_russell_mead
Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship
America Hits the Global Snooze Button In an increasingly alarming world, the West can’t afford to rest for much longer.
Caption
Firefighters at the site of the drone attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 4, 2024. (Photo by Pavlo Pakhomenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“This is 1938,” historian at a weekend conference in Estonia. He warned that a Ukrainian defeat would shift the calendar to 1939.

Many Americans still don’t fully grasp how serious the international situation has become. Iran has set the Middle East ablaze, Russia is advancing in Ukraine, and China is pursuing pressure campaigns against Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Even more challenging times lie ahead. While Washington and its allies try to calm things and return the world to something like normalcy, the revisionists are strengthening their cooperation and mobilizing their societies and economies for war.