The German diplomat placed a hand on his chest, as if struck by history itself. On the stage at the Munich Security Conference on February 16, 2025, before an audience of ministers, military officials and geopolitical experts, Christoph Heusgen broke down. Tears welled in his eyes as the former diplomatic adviser to chancellor Angela Merkel, and former ambassador to the United Nations, bid farewell. This conference, sometimes compared to the Cannes Film Festival for the Western diplomatic and military elite, had been under his chairmanship since 2022. But inside the Bayerischer Hof, the Art Deco palace that hosts the event, the audience understood that the head of the conference was also bidding farewell to a world in which Europe and the United States jointly claimed to uphold peace and democracy. “This becomes difficult,” said Heusgen, his voice trembling, fearing that Europe might no longer share “a common value base” with its American ally. Two days earlier, in less than 20 minutes, US Vice President JD Vance stunned Europe, causing a rift in the transatlantic relationship. …