By golly, so I did. Thanks for remembering....
They are naturally inquisitive and well versed in the nuances of culture. But there is also a great fear among them — almost as if the United States is a painful reminder that the world might not be so calm beyond their shores. If we would just not stir things up, leave it alone, not worry about it — the "problem" of terror might go away — as if the Soviet Union once collapsed due not to billions invested in American deterrence, but to a change of heart by well-meaning Marxists in Moscow.
Shades of declining Rome -- as the Romans turned their defenses over to barbarians, so the Europeans have turned their defenses over to us.