The Iran crisis has exposed an awful truth: The West no longer exists

Even to speak of the “West” as a coherent entity makes little sense: what was once a distinct civilisation has fragmented, with the US, Brexit Britain, the EU and the rest (including Canada and Australia) diverging dramatically. A minority of each of their electorates is now so self-loathing that it will reflexively take the side of any Middle Eastern despot, making any sort of robust policy more difficult.

It has certainly become clear that Europe and North America no longer share the same values, other than superficially. The EU is inexorably turning into a technocratic state that isn’t compatible with Britain or Australia’s robust democratic traditions; America is facing the slow implosion of its political settlement, amid a bitter culture war.