4 ms·

Because the US can break Europe by removing our ability to use the dollar. We are completely attached to it like with swift or visa etc. Until we decouple from

Because the US can break Europe by removing our ability to use the dollar. We are completely attached to it like with swift or visa etc. Until we decouple from the dollar which will probably never happen as the US will prevent it, we will always be under the reign of the United States. China does not have this problem.

rchaud 3y ago
That is not the reason. The US wouldn't commit an unforced error in the battle to maintain global reserve currency status. There are too many countries that would be delighted to switch to non-USD options to conduct export/import transactions. The issue is as old as the Cold War. Europe is dependent on the US' continued spending on its military machine to prop up NATO. For a deal that good, they're mostly OK with the trade-off of giving their privacy away to American tech companies.
2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago
Or maybe we are friends/allies and not adversaries? You're over complicating it by ignoring the glaring differences in relations with Europe vs China.
- sschueller 3y ago
  Friends/allies don't spy on each other. [1] For one second imagine the outrage that would have occurred if it were the other way around. The US does not operate in the interest if the EU. It will always be "America First" and if that means fucking over a European country or all of Europe, they will. I don't blame them for this as it is in essence their job to protect them selves but Europe needs to realize that even Article 5 in NATO will not protect them if the US doesn't want to. The US operates on this planet only in their final interest and if that means ignoring international laws and signed treaties so be it. In fact the US has recently claimed that UN Security Council resolutions are non-binding to the outrage of most UN members. [2] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/08/nsa-tapped-german-chancellery-decades-wikileaks-claims-merkel https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/08/nsa-tapped-g... [2] https://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-03-29/us-sparks-controversy-at-the-un-with-claim-that-gaza-ceasefire-resolution-is-non-binding.html# https://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-03-29/us-sparks-controve...
  - SR2Z 3y ago
    > Friends/allies don't spy on each other. Allies spy on each other THE MOST. Where do you get this idea that they don't? That's how they stay allies: by knowing each other, they can actually trust their interests are aligned. Literally EVERY embassy is used as a post to station spies from the guest nation in the host. It's an open secret, and spying is tolerated between allies up to some point - and that point is necessarily secret. You are applying a very human-centric idea of morality to large, stable countries. If they were people, they'd be perfect sociopaths - hyperrational and emotionless, driven only by shared interests and never "friendliness." > The US does not operate in the interest if the EU. The United States operates in the interest of the EU all the time - but only because as powerful liberal democracies, their interests (seeing a peaceful world with freedom of trade and ever-tightening global economic integration) are aligned. A world where the US reneges on Article 5 of NATO is a world where Europe was already pretty screwed, because that would imply that one or both of these two ceased to be liberal democracies. > In fact the US has recently claimed that UN Security Council resolutions are non-binding to the outrage of most UN members. [2] UNSC resolutions are non-binding for permanent members because each permanent member has a veto. There is no way to pass a resolution without the consent of the permanent members, and the US made it very clear that its abstention was only because the resolution was a moral point and had no concrete requirements (peacekeeping forces, sanctions, etc.). The US has vetoed all the attempts with CONCRETE requirements outright. Any "legal experts" who say it's binding are dodging the point: this is a moral resolution and the US doesn't give a damn about saving Israel in the court of public opinion anymore, since Netanyahu has stopped even pretending that he's trying to minimize damage. This resolution does not compel the US or Israel to do anything since there's no mechanism to enforce their compliance.

rchaud 3y ago

That is not the reason. The US wouldn't commit an unforced error in the battle to maintain global reserve currency status. There are too many countries that would be delighted to switch to non-USD options to conduct export/import transactions. The issue is as old as the Cold War. Europe is dependent on the US' continued spending on its military machine to prop up NATO. For a deal that good, they're mostly OK with the trade-off of giving their privacy away to American tech companies.

2OEH8eoCRo0 3y ago

Or maybe we are friends/allies and not adversaries? You're over complicating it by ignoring the glaring differences in relations with Europe vs China.

sschueller 3y ago
Friends/allies don't spy on each other. [1] For one second imagine the outrage that would have occurred if it were the other way around. The US does not operate in the interest if the EU. It will always be "America First" and if that means fucking over a European country or all of Europe, they will. I don't blame them for this as it is in essence their job to protect them selves but Europe needs to realize that even Article 5 in NATO will not protect them if the US doesn't want to. The US operates on this planet only in their final interest and if that means ignoring international laws and signed treaties so be it. In fact the US has recently claimed that UN Security Council resolutions are non-binding to the outrage of most UN members. [2] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/08/nsa-tapped-german-chancellery-decades-wikileaks-claims-merkel https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/08/nsa-tapped-g... [2] https://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-03-29/us-sparks-controversy-at-the-un-with-claim-that-gaza-ceasefire-resolution-is-non-binding.html# https://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-03-29/us-sparks-controve...
- SR2Z 3y ago
  > Friends/allies don't spy on each other. Allies spy on each other THE MOST. Where do you get this idea that they don't? That's how they stay allies: by knowing each other, they can actually trust their interests are aligned. Literally EVERY embassy is used as a post to station spies from the guest nation in the host. It's an open secret, and spying is tolerated between allies up to some point - and that point is necessarily secret. You are applying a very human-centric idea of morality to large, stable countries. If they were people, they'd be perfect sociopaths - hyperrational and emotionless, driven only by shared interests and never "friendliness." > The US does not operate in the interest if the EU. The United States operates in the interest of the EU all the time - but only because as powerful liberal democracies, their interests (seeing a peaceful world with freedom of trade and ever-tightening global economic integration) are aligned. A world where the US reneges on Article 5 of NATO is a world where Europe was already pretty screwed, because that would imply that one or both of these two ceased to be liberal democracies. > In fact the US has recently claimed that UN Security Council resolutions are non-binding to the outrage of most UN members. [2] UNSC resolutions are non-binding for permanent members because each permanent member has a veto. There is no way to pass a resolution without the consent of the permanent members, and the US made it very clear that its abstention was only because the resolution was a moral point and had no concrete requirements (peacekeeping forces, sanctions, etc.). The US has vetoed all the attempts with CONCRETE requirements outright. Any "legal experts" who say it's binding are dodging the point: this is a moral resolution and the US doesn't give a damn about saving Israel in the court of public opinion anymore, since Netanyahu has stopped even pretending that he's trying to minimize damage. This resolution does not compel the US or Israel to do anything since there's no mechanism to enforce their compliance.