WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: The Complicated Geopolitics of Decline: Germany & Russia Edition. “Few things are more obvious in geopolitics than the decline of Europe compared to other parts of the world. It’s one of the oldest and most marked trends in world affairs. In 1914 European powers ruled most of the world, and the past hundred years have seen a steady decline: the collapse of the great empires, the eclipse of Europe by the superpowers during the Cold War, and, since the Cold War, the rise of Asia and lately the euro crisis have all marked new stages in Europe’s decline. Within that broader story, however, is a story of German success relative to other European countries, if not necessarily to the world as a whole.”