By Adrian Wooldridge
Europe has gone through many eras in its turbulent history: the age of discovery, the age of enlightenment, the age of expansion, the age of destruction and the age of unification. Now he is entering a new era: that of humility.
Europe's dispute with Donald Trump over whether the U.S. can forcibly buy Greenland from Denmark may be surreal, but it fits into a broader pattern. The US (or China) is acting. Europe responds. The US (or China) is moving decisively. The EU is debating and hesitating. This week, Europe's elite reached a frenzy over Trump's threats to use force or tariffs to gain control of Greenland, until Trump finally made a 180-degree U-turn and claimed to have struck a deal with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, a deal that, in effect, has been on the table for quite some time. The storm has now passed, until Trump turns his attention to something else – or decides that the Greenland deal is a sham – and Europe must once again respond to external challenges.






