European autonomy - military, technological, economic, and financial - is beginning to take shape as Europe hedges against current and future fluctuations in [U.S.] policy.
The shift now underway is unlikely to take the form of a dramatic collapse of American power in the Gulf. It is more likely to be subtler and, for the region, more unsettling.
Washington has demonstrated beyond any doubt that its rift with Europe is irreversible, by deliberately choosing to go to war against Iran without consulting its European allies.