4 ms·

It seems like they are forced to play the US agenda. Are they going to end their military protection agreements with the most powerful military in the world? Ar

It seems like they are forced to play the US agenda. Are they going to end their military protection agreements with the most powerful military in the world? Are they going to close access to the world largest market? If they want to have a nation in 20 years they likely will not stop playing the US agenda

endorphone 8y ago
"If they want to have a nation in 20 years they likely will not stop playing the US agenda" What a strange claim. How are they going to lose their nation? The EU has a GDP 20x Russia's (not to mention having nuclear armed nations). Canada alone has a GDP 2x Russia. Any of these countries can fend off any imaginary assault, most of which are instigated by the US. The largest market...wait, do you think the US is going to close its doors? Well say goodbye to Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft...well just go through every US company. GM sells more cars in China than they do in the US. It's a very, very different world. US pull just isn't as strong as the post war world when the US was mighty and everyone else was rebuilding.
- frockington 8y ago
  A shut off would be disastrous for everyone involved so I doubt it would ever happen. Worst case scenario, the US would pick apart the EU. "Hey Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal, free trade if you exit the EU. We'll toss in protection from foreign invasion"
  - tinus_hn 8y ago
    Leaving the EU takes a few years which exceeds your presidents attention span by a few years. Nobody would trust he’d honor an agreement for that long.
    - frockington 8y ago
      North Korea seems to and I don't think Quitaly needs much more incentive
      - tinus_hn 8y ago
        North Korea is not in the EU. I think it’s unlikely Italy will actually leave but if it does it won’t be because of Trump. It probably depends on what happens to the UK and as the EU people know that, they aren’t likely to let the UK off easy.
akoncius 8y ago
USA will not be able to play this card for long. Trump already expressed doubts about whether USA would defend eastern EU countries. Trust is almost gone already, so USA is losing "benefits" what to offer to allies quite fast. What would be the point to sell products to USA with huge tariff on top of it to the point that local products would be way cheaper? Nobody would buy it. What's the point to expect partnerships in military with USA when for example South Korea is left cold without any discussions about it?

endorphone 8y ago

"If they want to have a nation in 20 years they likely will not stop playing the US agenda" What a strange claim. How are they going to lose their nation? The EU has a GDP 20x Russia's (not to mention having nuclear armed nations). Canada alone has a GDP 2x Russia. Any of these countries can fend off any imaginary assault, most of which are instigated by the US. The largest market...wait, do you think the US is going to close its doors? Well say goodbye to Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft...well just go through every US company. GM sells more cars in China than they do in the US. It's a very, very different world. US pull just isn't as strong as the post war world when the US was mighty and everyone else was rebuilding.

frockington 8y ago
A shut off would be disastrous for everyone involved so I doubt it would ever happen. Worst case scenario, the US would pick apart the EU. "Hey Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal, free trade if you exit the EU. We'll toss in protection from foreign invasion"
- tinus_hn 8y ago
  Leaving the EU takes a few years which exceeds your presidents attention span by a few years. Nobody would trust he’d honor an agreement for that long.
  - frockington 8y ago
    North Korea seems to and I don't think Quitaly needs much more incentive
    - tinus_hn 8y ago
      North Korea is not in the EU. I think it’s unlikely Italy will actually leave but if it does it won’t be because of Trump. It probably depends on what happens to the UK and as the EU people know that, they aren’t likely to let the UK off easy.

akoncius 8y ago

USA will not be able to play this card for long. Trump already expressed doubts about whether USA would defend eastern EU countries. Trust is almost gone already, so USA is losing "benefits" what to offer to allies quite fast. What would be the point to sell products to USA with huge tariff on top of it to the point that local products would be way cheaper? Nobody would buy it. What's the point to expect partnerships in military with USA when for example South Korea is left cold without any discussions about it?