Colby writes that “Under President Trump’s leadership, countries not only see the value of American engagement, they can no longer take it for granted.” But isn’t that sort of the same claim that underpins Carney’s strategic philosophy, such as it is? Yeah, pal, we know we can no longer take the U.S.’s Atlanticist foreign-policy orientation for granted: it’s been beaten to hell and back by, among other intellectuals, Elbridge Colby. That’s why liberal-democratic “middle powers” in Europe and Asia probably do need to co-operate more, invest more in their own defence bases and behave as if we may need to deter collectively against Russia, China and other possible threats, without presumptive leadership or even participation from the United States.