Book Talk: The Lost Peace

In the 20th Century, the German city of Munich was the arena of many dark and dramatic episodes. In February 2025, the city was also the scene of an extremely positive event for modern human history – we are talking about the historic speech by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance – capable of offering a glimmer of hope to the whole world instead of plunging us back into the deepest despair. But that is only if the president, Donald Trump, really succeeds in fighting the “Deep State” and “draining the swamp of Washington,” goals that eluded him during his first term.

The annual Munich Security Conference (MSC) always attracts much public attention, but never so much as this year’s event. On the opening day of the three-day event on Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, spoke at the “China in the World” event of the MSC.

Donald Trump’s first term as president shook smug European certainty about continued U.S. protection, but his NATO warnings ultimately turned out to be a little more insistent (and abrasive) than those of his predecessors.