German Chancellor Warns Pax Americana Is Over — and Europe Is Entering a More Dangerous Era

By Brian Daitzman

Germany’s chancellor warned of a “fundamental change” in the transatlantic relationship and said Europeans should act as if the “decades of Pax Americana” are “largely over,” arguing that Europe is “not at war, but… no longer simply living in peace, either,” and warning that if Ukraine falls, “Putin won’t stop.”

Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, warned on Dec. 13 that Europe should prepare for a “fundamental change” in the transatlantic relationship, signaling growing concern among U.S. allies that the American-led security order underpinning Europe for decades can no longer be assumed.

“The decades of Pax Americana are, for us in Europe and also for us in Germany, largely over,” Mr. Merz said in remarks to a Christian Social Union party convention in Munich.

The phrase, long used to describe the period of relative stability enforced by U.S. military and political dominance after World War II, carried a pointed message: Europe, he argued, must now plan for a security environment in which American guarantees are less predictable and deterrence must increasingly be sustained at home.

Mr. Merz framed the moment as structural rather than temporary. He described what he called “a truly tectonic shift” in global political and economic power and said Europeans were “right in the middle” of it.

He rejected the idea that recent strains in the alliance reflected a passing phase. “No one should believe this is a short-term phenomenon,” he said.

Without naming specific American leaders, Mr. Merz said the United States was now asserting its interests “very, very forcefully,” and argued that Europe had “no other response” but to pursue its own interests with similar clarity.

The remarks reflect a broader recalibration underway inside NATO itself. At a summit in The Hague in June, alliance leaders agreed to invest 5 percent of gross domestic product annually by 2035 on defense and security-related spending, citing what the summit declaration described as “profound security threats,” including “the long-term threat posed by Russia.”...