These words from Richard Perle got little traction in North American media, but I find them very interesting. Germany has always been a loyal ally of the US, but ever since the collapse of the Soviet empire there was less of a need for the Germans to stay close to the US. They threw their destiny into the hands of the European effort and in doing so they ended up almost automatically in a close partnership with that other large continental entity that has never exactly been in favor of strong transatlantic arrangements. Perle is making an argument from an American point of view, but I would add that from a European perspective a close Franco-German alignment is also highly undesirable. The French and the Germans may not believe in a strong partnership with the US, but in moving to that position they are dragging many smaller nations committed to strong transatlantic relations with them to the detriment of long-term security and stability in the Western Hemisphere. The inescapable conclusion is that the Americans (and British) will have to go it alone, and that will also sadly mean that NATO is a doomed institution.