translate English to French: While it is foolish to assume that an enemy will melt away as soon as the West flexes its muscles, in the absence of another superpower from which to derive support the possibilities of a country in the East surviving a straight fight with the West are recognized to be low.
S'il est utopique d'imaginer que l'ennemi se volatilise dès que l'Occident montre ses muscles, un pays de l'Est n'a guère de chances de survivre à un combat direct avec l'Occident, sans l'appui d'une autre superpuissance.