The West, past its best

“Is the West finished?” asks French weekly Courrier International in its latest special edition. With the U.S. economy hotly pursued by Asia, Europe increasingly pushed into the background on the international stage, and “emerging” countries turning into “conquerors,” the West is now in palpable decline both economically and politically”, the magazine writes. “Without lamenting it or playing Cassandra,” the weekly attempts to grasp the challenges of a new international climate, a “turning point” that for some is the twilight of Western civilisation while for others the “spread of Western values ​​in the world.” The reluctance of European and Americans to get involved in the situation in Libya “proves that the West has surrendered spontaneous leadership. And its place has been taken by others. Iran, China and Russia are already queuing up”, adds Polish weekly Wprost for its part, adding that “the West is no longer able to stand up as a defender of democracy, nor to scare anyone in any credible fashion.”