The world order has gone, says German chancellor

This is the weekend when all the politically powerful meet in Munich for the annual security conference and already the warning has gone out: the world order we knew and loved has gone for good. Nothing is the same. Everything we relied on before is no longer valid. The biggest warning came from Chancellor Mertz of Germany who is increasingly taking on the role of speaking for and acting for the whole of Europe. He told the conference that international rules have changed beyond recognition. What he and all the others meant to say was that, thanks to Donald Trump, we can't trust the US to come to our aid any more. Europe has to stand on its own feet. It is exraordinary, althpugh not surprising, that Trump has managed, in his second term, to unsettle what before was regarded as set in concrete, ie the Transatlantic alliance. Previous US presidents all confirmed that Nato and the US leadership of the alliance were iron-clad commitments for Washington. There was never any doubt. But all that has gone, and the Munich conference is another exmaple - after the meeting in Davos earlier this year - of where the world's leaders are walking around not knowing what is happening and what the future holds. But, basically, the time for whingeing and worrying is over. The fact is, Trump will be in power for another three years and the changes he has begun to make will stay for ever. Europe has to get tougher and more robust and more unified. Europe without the US being at their beck and call is the reality today, and European leaders will have to accept it. However, I still firmly believe that Nato will survive all these changes and probably become a better and more powerful organisation than ever. That should surely be everyone's goal in the western world.