3 ms·

When the president of the USA openly disparages Europe at every opportunity, it's pretty difficult to feel very sympathetic with the us administration on such m

When the president of the USA openly disparages Europe at every opportunity, it's pretty difficult to feel very sympathetic with the us administration on such matters.

chvid 7y ago
I don't think Americans realise how much diplomatic influence has been lost in Europe. To me the American tradition of a politicised diplomatic corps is to blame. The politics of Trump is just very far from mainstream European politics. I am personally convinced that had the campaign against Huawei been done by the Obama administration there would be no Huawei technology in the EU at this point.
- frequentnapper 7y ago
  I am curious why it wasn't. Did Obama just drop the ball? I'm sure he knew how much of a serious threat Huawei was.
  - thawaway1837 7y ago
    Because Obama was tackling the Chinese in a much more effective and long term manner through the TPP. And because 5G decision making hadnt really begun until early last year.
- thawaway1837 7y ago
  Of course Obama would have been successful. For one thing, when he required the Europeans to increase their NATO contributions he did it quietly, without publicly insulting them, and got them to commit to increase it over a period of a decade, which is reasonable. Unlike stand he never threatened America’s commitment to NATO itself. For another, his first major international economic action wasn’t dropping steel tariffs on his Europeans allies. And finally, he worked with his European allies to build an effective deal with Iran, that gave Europeans something they wanted and reduced the threat of additional war in the Middle East, whole building an effective counter balance to the Saudis, instead of flippantly and unilaterally tearing it apart causing European allies unnecessary political, military, and economic headaches.
thawaway1837 7y ago
This is the reality. The Europeans would have been just fine with working with the US against China. The problem is that the “great negotiator” thought that what would be really brilliant would be to first attack your allies, and then ask them to help you when going up against your enemy. What seems strangely forgotten in these discussions is that the first round of tariffs the Trump administration imposed on anybody, was steel tariffs on the Europeans. No other country in the world has absolutely any reason to trust the US, especially now that the government cannot even be trusted to act in their own selfish interests (but rather, is dependent on the whims of 1 extremely stable genius).

When the president of the USA openly disparages Europe at every opportunity, it's pretty difficult to feel very sympathetic with the us administration on such matters.

chvid 7y ago

I don't think Americans realise how much diplomatic influence has been lost in Europe. To me the American tradition of a politicised diplomatic corps is to blame. The politics of Trump is just very far from mainstream European politics. I am personally convinced that had the campaign against Huawei been done by the Obama administration there would be no Huawei technology in the EU at this point.

frequentnapper 7y ago
I am curious why it wasn't. Did Obama just drop the ball? I'm sure he knew how much of a serious threat Huawei was.
- thawaway1837 7y ago
  Because Obama was tackling the Chinese in a much more effective and long term manner through the TPP. And because 5G decision making hadnt really begun until early last year.
thawaway1837 7y ago
Of course Obama would have been successful. For one thing, when he required the Europeans to increase their NATO contributions he did it quietly, without publicly insulting them, and got them to commit to increase it over a period of a decade, which is reasonable. Unlike stand he never threatened America’s commitment to NATO itself. For another, his first major international economic action wasn’t dropping steel tariffs on his Europeans allies. And finally, he worked with his European allies to build an effective deal with Iran, that gave Europeans something they wanted and reduced the threat of additional war in the Middle East, whole building an effective counter balance to the Saudis, instead of flippantly and unilaterally tearing it apart causing European allies unnecessary political, military, and economic headaches.

thawaway1837 7y ago

This is the reality. The Europeans would have been just fine with working with the US against China. The problem is that the “great negotiator” thought that what would be really brilliant would be to first attack your allies, and then ask them to help you when going up against your enemy. What seems strangely forgotten in these discussions is that the first round of tariffs the Trump administration imposed on anybody, was steel tariffs on the Europeans. No other country in the world has absolutely any reason to trust the US, especially now that the government cannot even be trusted to act in their own selfish interests (but rather, is dependent on the whims of 1 extremely stable genius).