THE triceratops had a gentle existence that belied its fierce appearance, keeping to itself and maintaining a strict vegetarian diet. But in his neglected classic Tarzan the Terrible, Edgar Rice Burroughs conjured the Gryf, a horrifying dagger-toothed descendant of the three-horned dinosaur that roamed the African plains and snacked on the locals. Europe is contemplating a similar evolutionary path as it gets to grips with an American administration that has tired of playing T. Rex alone. Can the herbivorous power of the past, which has long delighted in the soft tools of diplomacy, trade and aid, really transform itself into a slavering, armed-to-the-teeth carnivore?
Donald Trump’s team has spent much of the last week in Europe cleaning up the boss’s mess. At the Munich Security Conference, James Mattis, the defence secretary, called NATO (which Mr Trump had written off as obsolete) “the best alliance in the world”. In Brussels, Mike Pence, the vice-president, assured his audience of America’s “strong commitment” to the European Union, a club the president has dismissed as a “vehicle for...Continue reading
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