In 2009 Peter Scholl-Latour published a book entitled "The White Man's Fear".
In this, the author described a world in upheaval that was characterized, among other things, by the gradual loss of power of the western states and their values.
The feeling of being defenseless against China's ever more clearly articulating claim to power, and the most recent images from Afghanistan, which recall the American withdrawal from Saigon in the spring of 1975, reinforce the feeling that the West is weak in our time.
That is right and wrong at the same time. Attempts to force the formation of states from outside in unsuitable countries and with the aid of considerable military means have failed. Attempts to establish modern economic structures using large sums of money and thus to support the development of a stable civil society have failed. A large part of the money has perished through corruption.
However, defeatism would not be appropriate. When the Americans left Saigon, it was seen as a severe defeat for the West. Not only communist Vietnam was considered the winner, but above all the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union as communist great powers. Fifteen years later, the Soviet Union collapsed while China set out to find its way into a global division of labor characterized predominantly by free trade and multilateralism by introducing elements of the market economy. Many millions of people have escaped poverty and misery over the past three decades. That was no mean feat.
In this age of restlessness, insecurity and geopolitical conflicts, it is all the more important for the West to adhere to its basic principles. The fact that he himself experiences crises of various kinds and new challenges should not dissuade him from the path marked by liberal democracy, market economy and free world trade.