Shane Harris

Yeah, I think so.

I mean, it's like this conference when I came last year was sort of like this feeling of, you know, the US and Europe, are we breaking up?

And this year it's kind of like, hmm, it feels like we're breaking up.

Like you feel there's a frostiness even that was there last year and this year just feels like it's more settled into like a freeze.

You know, the Americans only sent one person as far as I'm aware of really to speak on any panels.

He's under secretary of state.

People were mispronouncing his name.

No one had really ever heard of him.

He didn't know people who were answering, asking his questions, who, you know, in defense, you should know.

Yeah, he did.

He did because we wanted to beat up on him, right?

Because, I mean, these are sort of questions that people are asking, you know,

you know, where are the Americans?

What's the role?

But it's interesting.

It was sort of, it felt like to me, people here just have resigned to the fact that the United States, and Tom DiNano is his name, by the way, and in his defense, he did keep saying the United States is not leaving Europe.

We're not leaving NATO.

But I think that there's a real understanding that the relationship has fundamentally changed.

And I'm not sure that people are counting on that snapping back if a Democrat is elected in 28.

Maybe it will, but it does feel like Europe has been planning for life after America for a while.