An anchorless world

Principle backed by credible force made the US the anchor of global security since 1945. Obama’s wavering on Syria seems to herald a global power shift.

AT dinner in Berlin the other night, perusing the debacle that is Syria, a German friend observed: “It’s the post-American world – and that means chaos.” We were joined by John Kornblum, the former US ambassador to Germany, whose verdict was similar: “What you’re seeing is the steady break-up of the postwar system.”