It’s taken just six weeks for the Trump administration to make clear the U.S. must hereafter be viewed as an unreliable ally, an untrustworthy partner and a danger to the continuation of the international security order provided by 80 years of joint cooperation in the wake of the Second World War.

Trump apologists will say it was a necessary step. That too many democratic powers had taken to riding the coattails of America’s military and financial might. There’s much truth in that and a reordering was due. Given the costs and political realities involved it was unlikely anything short of a crisis would be enough to spur action. It always seemed most likely the crisis would come from China, Russia or some other enemy of western values, intent on destroying the democratic model of rights and freedom that autocrats and dictators loathe.