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You are missing the point. Because of Trump, US allies have to guard more corners than before. It's a serious problem and I think Trump is actually giving Russ

You are missing the point. Because of Trump, US allies have to guard more corners than before. It's a serious problem and I think Trump is actually giving Russia/China an unfair advantage. He has already destroyed the Asian partnerships against China that Obama started, he also got out of numerous Western partnerships because it wasn't his signature on it. I would say that the problem is not Europe, it's 100% Trump. Allies won't back him since they can't trust him. Everyone knows he's trying to have as much as personal gain as possible. Even meddling in European affairs,. Eg. Ukraine for the clear sake of money). Every time Trump suggests to help countries handle their affairs, you know he's going for the "pay Trump, get US military assistance" card, it's nuts. The Western alliance since WO II can't survive in it's current form if Trump would get another term, they are all waiting till someone sane comes back. If it doesn't happen, it will become a serious problem :( TLDR; If you wouldn't trust Trump as a business partner, how can other countries trust him. You can't unite/partner with a person like that. Edit: if down vote. Please share something that Trump seems trustworthy without personal gain. I haven't seen any situation during his entire term, trying to redirect US-money to his pockets.

paulsutter 6y ago
Russia’s economy is smaller than Canada, they’re just not terribly relevant globally. China on the other hand will eclipse the US significantly both economically and militarily, reshaping the world.
- NicoJuicy 6y ago
  I didn't say that Russia is relevant. But they do have a "more deep" ( one-sided) partnership with China to influence Western democracy. They were a lot stronger during the USSR and even then the call for democracy broke it up. Europe has never been closer to Moscow. Important: Without firing even a single gunshot.
- mamon 6y ago
  Russian economy is weak, agreed, but militarily they are still the only significant threat to US global dominance. China's military is much weaker in comparison.
  - paulsutter 6y ago
    China is a vastly bigger consideration. If China decides to invade Taiwan the US could lose access to most semiconductors. China’s military is developing rapidly. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-06-18/how-prevent-war-asia https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-0...
    - catalogia 6y ago
      If Russia were so inclined (I don't think they are and don't see why they would be) they could turn the Island of Taiwan into a pile of gravel on the floor of the China Sea. They have several thousand nuclear warheads with the means to deliver them; more than enough to overwhelm any extant ABM system. For that reason if for no other, I think an American conflict with China is more likely than a conflict with Russia. China still has hundreds of nukes too, which is hundreds too many, but that's many times less than what Russia has. To be clear, a direct war between any three of these countries would be a stupid, horrible idea.
      - paulsutter 6y ago
        There no motive for Russia to do that. This Russia obsession is bizarre
        catalogia 6y ago
        Yes, I agree.
redis_mlc 6y ago
This is not well-understood by the general public, but Trump's power as a statesman is his unpredictability. If you don't know what or where he will be next, how do you counter him? Reagan kept the Soviet Union off balance to the point of dissolving it. He's considered one of America's greatest statesman today, but called a clown by the elites at the time. The CCP should be concerned about the same fate if they trifle with Trump. They have given every reason for him to isolate that country.
- NicoJuicy 6y ago
  > Trump's power as a statesman is his unpredictability. Please don't mistake unpredictability to untrustworthy, ego-centrism and self gain driven behaviour. The guy clearly lacks any social decency that toddlers even know. Reagan did this only as a strategy to USSR, but Trump is clearly influenced by self-gain and ego-centric. He is very predictable, if you use that as a variable. Reagan also supported anti-communism countries and saw the strength in allies. Trump stands alone, every where he goes and doesn't have the brain capacity to lead a country. I think you haven't been paying attention the last months. The US has never been this divided, Trump resembles a con-man/lunatic a lot more. Ps. A divided nation is a weak one.
  - NicoJuicy 6y ago
    > My book doesn't come out until later in the summer, but I'm going to tell you now one thing that you'll find in it: all of the reporting indicates that Barr is involved in the dubious funding of the Trump 2020 campaign by foreign sources. This is all a lot worse than you realize. Didn't surprise me > Trump's power as a statesman is his unpredictability As said earlier > Please don't mistake unpredictability to untrustworthy, ego-centrism and self gain driven behaviour.
- fxtentacle 6y ago
  Merkel did an excellent job at countering him. Or at least, she earned a lot of respect with voters and other European politicians for it. Basically, she was just presenting it as if she's babysitting a naughty kid. So the way to counter Trump is to make obvious the irrelevance of what he's saying or tweeting at any given moment, because he might change his opinion an hour later.

paulsutter 6y ago

Russia’s economy is smaller than Canada, they’re just not terribly relevant globally. China on the other hand will eclipse the US significantly both economically and militarily, reshaping the world.

NicoJuicy 6y ago
I didn't say that Russia is relevant. But they do have a "more deep" ( one-sided) partnership with China to influence Western democracy. They were a lot stronger during the USSR and even then the call for democracy broke it up. Europe has never been closer to Moscow. Important: Without firing even a single gunshot.
mamon 6y ago
Russian economy is weak, agreed, but militarily they are still the only significant threat to US global dominance. China's military is much weaker in comparison.
- paulsutter 6y ago
  China is a vastly bigger consideration. If China decides to invade Taiwan the US could lose access to most semiconductors. China’s military is developing rapidly. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-06-18/how-prevent-war-asia https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-0...
  - catalogia 6y ago
    If Russia were so inclined (I don't think they are and don't see why they would be) they could turn the Island of Taiwan into a pile of gravel on the floor of the China Sea. They have several thousand nuclear warheads with the means to deliver them; more than enough to overwhelm any extant ABM system. For that reason if for no other, I think an American conflict with China is more likely than a conflict with Russia. China still has hundreds of nukes too, which is hundreds too many, but that's many times less than what Russia has. To be clear, a direct war between any three of these countries would be a stupid, horrible idea.
    - paulsutter 6y ago
      There no motive for Russia to do that. This Russia obsession is bizarre
      - catalogia 6y ago
        Yes, I agree.

redis_mlc 6y ago

This is not well-understood by the general public, but Trump's power as a statesman is his unpredictability. If you don't know what or where he will be next, how do you counter him? Reagan kept the Soviet Union off balance to the point of dissolving it. He's considered one of America's greatest statesman today, but called a clown by the elites at the time. The CCP should be concerned about the same fate if they trifle with Trump. They have given every reason for him to isolate that country.

NicoJuicy 6y ago
> Trump's power as a statesman is his unpredictability. Please don't mistake unpredictability to untrustworthy, ego-centrism and self gain driven behaviour. The guy clearly lacks any social decency that toddlers even know. Reagan did this only as a strategy to USSR, but Trump is clearly influenced by self-gain and ego-centric. He is very predictable, if you use that as a variable. Reagan also supported anti-communism countries and saw the strength in allies. Trump stands alone, every where he goes and doesn't have the brain capacity to lead a country. I think you haven't been paying attention the last months. The US has never been this divided, Trump resembles a con-man/lunatic a lot more. Ps. A divided nation is a weak one.
- NicoJuicy 6y ago
  > My book doesn't come out until later in the summer, but I'm going to tell you now one thing that you'll find in it: all of the reporting indicates that Barr is involved in the dubious funding of the Trump 2020 campaign by foreign sources. This is all a lot worse than you realize. Didn't surprise me > Trump's power as a statesman is his unpredictability As said earlier > Please don't mistake unpredictability to untrustworthy, ego-centrism and self gain driven behaviour.
fxtentacle 6y ago
Merkel did an excellent job at countering him. Or at least, she earned a lot of respect with voters and other European politicians for it. Basically, she was just presenting it as if she's babysitting a naughty kid. So the way to counter Trump is to make obvious the irrelevance of what he's saying or tweeting at any given moment, because he might change his opinion an hour later.