If you want to understand the fatal dangers facing America today, read The Gathering Storm by Winston Churchill. The book is not about America, the Middle East, or nuclear missiles. But it shows Europe’s attitudes and delusions — aimed at peace in the years before the Second World War — which instead ended up bringing on that most terrible war in all of human history.
Given that Russia is seeing a "perfect storm" in its efforts to demoralize the West that, if successful, will create a vacuum into which Russia's far weaker power can advance without sufficient resistance to stop them, Sowell is right to worry about the gathering storms.
Where once there was Euro-communism supposedly in defiance of Soviet communism that threatened a weakened and tired Europe, we now seem to have Euro-Putinism that is supposedly just various national movements.
But rather than being a Cold War revival, I've long felt that there has been a disturbing inter-war vibe the last decade. "Inter-war" as in between the world wars, for you kids out there.
Although I might be too Euro-centric, I admit.
Still, add in societal malaise from the late 15th century if you want to see a Western Europe even more far gone than today and more under threat than in 1947.
So the West has experienced worse and survived and prospered. I try to be an optimist.
But if Russia has an Anschluss with Belarus, we might want to put a couple Army heavy corps back in Europe.
Germany might want to have some sort of military in those circumstances.
And if the Anschluss takes place over Taiwan, we might need a 600-ship Navy and a larger Marine Corps, eh?
And Japan may want to enlarge and not just improve their military.
Have a super sparkly day.
