7 ms·

I'm really into geopolitics, and it's clear to see what's happening from the US side. America still wants to play hegemon, but since Bretton Woods 2.0 didn't h

by echelon 10mo ago

I'm really into geopolitics, and it's clear to see what's happening from the US side. America still wants to play hegemon, but since Bretton Woods 2.0 didn't happen, they're going to lock up the entire North and South American continents from Chinese and Russian influence. And it'll be fierce. The next salvo is going to be US statehood for Alberta and Saskatchewan. There is already partisan support within those provinces, and Trump is going to offer money to push it. If that happens, Yukon and the Northwest Territories are next. (Side note: these are Republican voters, which gives Republicans the Senate for years to come.) Venezuela wasn't about drugs or oil, it was about China. And it wasn't Trump's thing, it was the career DoD folks. (Venezuela is within medium-range missile range of 50% of US oil refineries. The US doesn't want foreign basing there or in Cuba.) The DoD is pushing Greenland too as it'll be a centerpiece of Arctic shipping in the coming century. And Cuba, as it's both extremely close to CONUS and a choke point for the gulf. You can see the plays happening if you watch. The Chinese-owned Panama Ports Company being forcibly sold to BlackRock, the increasing trade and diplomatic ties between China and South American countries, etc. My bet is that a Democratic president would continue this policy, just with less rudeness and more "cooperation". The Department of Defense -- apolitically -- doesn't want China to have the US within arms reach. Trump is going to try to speed run it, though. --- edit: downvotes rate limit my account, so I can't respond. > I would love to hear how you think Trump will manage to get Alberta and Saskatchewan to become US states within this century. It's going to nucleate from within Alberta and Saskatchewan. https://globalnews.ca/news/11615147/alberta-separatists-praise-turnout-petition-signing/ https://globalnews.ca/news/11615147/alberta-separatists-prai... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_separatism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_separatism This has been spoken about for years, but look at how much the conversation is starting to come back up recently: https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/alberta-primetime/article/alberta-separation-question-offensive-and-alarming-native-studies-professor/ https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/alberta-primetime/article/al... https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-separation-poll-9.7039022 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-separation-po... I see a dozen other articles about this published in the last week. If Trump adds fuel to this fire, it's going to take over the headlines. The DoD is definitely whispering it into his ear. Also, the downvotes are silly. I'm not advocating for this. I'm just pointing out what the US is doing and why it thinks this way.

mekdoonggi 10mo ago
I would love to hear how you think Trump will manage to get Alberta and Saskatchewan to become US states within this century.
- insane_dreamer 10mo ago
  At that point you might have the West Coast states secede and join up with BC.
  - rjrjrjrj 10mo ago
    Cascadia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_movement
- jbm 10mo ago
  I live in a bubble in Calgary, and am from Montreal originally. Despite that, I saw lines of people waiting to sign petitions for separation in smaller cities. People who were happy to have their photos taken while they are signing petitions for separation from Canada. There are some cultural factors in Alberta which draw it closer to the US than to Ontario and Quebec. Libertarianism, pro-fossil fuels, differences wrt firearms, differences in attitudes to crime and punishment, etc... The perception is that previous compromises around these items are slowly frayed to appease voting blocks in other provinces (mostly Quebec). Then, the dirty reality; the Canadian economy has never been "great", at least in my lifetime. Nearly my whole class at university wound up going to the US, because one couldn't get a decent paying job in Canada in a lot of fields. Even our current prime minister did a ton of his work abroad. If separating (IE: joining the US) was only an economic question, only a tiny elite would support remaining a part of Canada. The question Alberta separatists wish to ask is much less dishonest than the Quebec separation question in 95, which leads me to believe they are much more confident about their success. I wouldn't rule it out.
  - rjrjrjrj 10mo ago
    separation != joining the US There is small but loud group of chronic whiners who hate everything (often including each other) pushing the former. Almost nobody is pushing the latter.

by echelon 10mo ago

mekdoonggi 10mo ago

I would love to hear how you think Trump will manage to get Alberta and Saskatchewan to become US states within this century.

insane_dreamer 10mo ago
At that point you might have the West Coast states secede and join up with BC.
- rjrjrjrj 10mo ago
  Cascadia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_movement
jbm 10mo ago
I live in a bubble in Calgary, and am from Montreal originally. Despite that, I saw lines of people waiting to sign petitions for separation in smaller cities. People who were happy to have their photos taken while they are signing petitions for separation from Canada. There are some cultural factors in Alberta which draw it closer to the US than to Ontario and Quebec. Libertarianism, pro-fossil fuels, differences wrt firearms, differences in attitudes to crime and punishment, etc... The perception is that previous compromises around these items are slowly frayed to appease voting blocks in other provinces (mostly Quebec). Then, the dirty reality; the Canadian economy has never been "great", at least in my lifetime. Nearly my whole class at university wound up going to the US, because one couldn't get a decent paying job in Canada in a lot of fields. Even our current prime minister did a ton of his work abroad. If separating (IE: joining the US) was only an economic question, only a tiny elite would support remaining a part of Canada. The question Alberta separatists wish to ask is much less dishonest than the Quebec separation question in 95, which leads me to believe they are much more confident about their success. I wouldn't rule it out.
- rjrjrjrj 10mo ago
  separation != joining the US There is small but loud group of chronic whiners who hate everything (often including each other) pushing the former. Almost nobody is pushing the latter.