President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany earned media adoration for the “internationalist” tone of their speeches this weekend commemorating the centenary of the armistice ending World War I. But their vision of global order is vapid, built on nothing but platitudes.

For a start, columnists like Jennifer Rubin are absolutely wrong in supporting Macron and Merkel’s claims of guardianship over the international liberal order. The reality, as demonstrated by overt Franco-German submission to Russian President Vladimir Putin and to Chinese economic imperialism, is that Macron-Merkel will not stand up to defend Western values against those who would vanquish them.