Pompeo Assures European Leaders the Western World is ‘Winning’ Against Chinese, Russian and Iranian Challenges

Addressing European leaders at the Munich Security Conference on February 15th, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed his country’s commitment to upholding Western leadership and countering challenges posed by emerging non-Western powers. Expressing considerable faith in the alliance of Western nations, Pompeo stated: “I’m happy to report that the death the transatlantic alliance is grossly exaggerated. The West is winning and we’re winning together.” Europe and the United States have increasingly formed a united front against China, North Korea, Russia and Iran - with European countries contributing considerable military forces to deployments near all of these countries as part of American led initiatives. These have included the presence of European troops and aircraft over Syria to counter the deployment of Russian, North Korean and Iranian units there, as well as patrols near and at times into North Korean and Chinese waters by European warships. France has also taken a leading role in supporting a massive American-led force building in the Persian Gulf to place additional pressure on Iran. While it remains uncertain whether “the West is winning,” as the primacy of the wider Western world is increasingly challenged, it is expected that Western powers will continue to close ranks against their potential adversaries throughout the 2020s - a decade which is likely to prove decisive in determining whether a world order centred around Western leadership can be sustained.