For decades, the world has operated under a comforting, if increasingly delusional, fairy tale: that an alliance with the United States is a permanent shield.
From the mountains of Kurdistan to the streets of Saigon and the highlands of Afghanistan, various nations and groups have banked their survival on the promise of American protection. They were told they were “fighting for freedom and democracy,” a phrase that has become the ultimate sarcastic calling card for an impending exit.
The historical record suggests a much darker reality. For a superpower, an “ally” is not a friend; it is a temporary asset with an expiration date. When the geopolitical weather shifts, the asset is liquidated. For Europe, currently huddled under a tattered NATO umbrella, the lesson is clear: you are not the exception to the rule. You are merely the next case study in the strategy of betrayal.