Pax Americana is coming to an end

Friedrich Merz did not mince words. Speaking to his party faithful in Munich at the Christian Democratic Union party conference last week, Germany’s chancellor declared that Pax Americana, as Europe had known it, was over.

The term ‘pax’ means peace in Latin and was coined to describe the period known as Pax Romana, referring to two centuries of relative stability enforced by Roman legions across the Mediterranean world.