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Russia's invasion ironically strengthened NATO, with more countries joining or feeling the usefulness of it. Somehow the US managed to break down all that good
by matsemann 7mo ago
Russia's invasion ironically strengthened NATO, with more countries joining or feeling the usefulness of it. Somehow the US managed to break down all that good will in such a short amount of time.. I think it's hard to overstate how much more hostile people look at the US the last few years. So much soft power has been lost.
- fortyseven 7mo ago> I think it's hard to overstate how much more hostile people look at the US the last few years. True both outside AND inside the country.
- nxm 7mo ago[flagged]
- matsemann 7mo agoThis is very reductive. European countries pay a lot into their defense, especially the last few years. It's not as black&white as a certain person likes to claim.
- thibran 7mo agoYou forget that you got a say for that money in a lot of parts of the world, which is one of the primary reasons the US is so wealthy. Europe took the deal that the US "handels the war stuff in the world" for some influence. If we handle the "war stuff", the US influence will be gone in Europe.
- Imustaskforhelp 7mo agoWhile at it, let's finally remove American Dollar as the de-facto currency all around the world because part of the agreement between EU and America was that American dollars would become the global currency and EU would get defense security in return which was mutually benefitial to both. To be honest, EU will invest in its own defense in coming years. The cat is out of the box, US proved to be an unstable partner/even an enemy for a country like denmark that you had to prepare to fight full scare war against.
- varispeed 7mo ago> Somehow the US managed to break down all that good will in such a short amount of time Because US administration is compromised. Putin says jump, Krasnov asks how high.
- terminalshort 7mo agoYes that is clearly the case. Obviously Putin told Trump to start seizing his oil tankers recently.
- dismalaf 7mo agoYes, I'm sure Putin told Trump to take out 2 of his allies in succession...
- Imustaskforhelp 7mo ago> So much soft power has been lost. The worst part to me feels like US has lost trust and such soft power loss is irrecoverable no matter what happens now :/ A common statement I hear from people, or maybe its just what I think, but its like "How can we trust US after this" and hey mind you, Trump still has 3 years in office, but even if political parties change, how can we trust the whole system for not having another Trump moment. So this loss of soft power is quite a permanent loss. US has to now condition itself to live with it accordingly and live with some shame (which is something that I am observing too of people not being proud of being american anymore seeing the devastation caused by it) Countries across the world will have to treat US as unpredictable from now on and treat its financial markets in the same way as well. The worst part out of all of this is that it hurts the average day american the most not the people at the top who are doing all of this and the average person has no say in all of this seeing their country being destroyed by wreckless actions. The sad part is that people did have many wake up calls to be honest, greenland was first joked about and then became so serious that denmark was preparing only to then move to iran now impacting the normal people's everyday life with oil price increases all across the world.. I do think that the people of US tried to stand up against the oppression by protests but some were shot (rest in peace) and others were detained. The sad part is that the people tried their best but it still wasn't enough to stop all of this from happening. It was maybe too late after the election.
- doom2 7mo ago> Countries across the world will have to treat US as unpredictable from now on Anyone who has studied American history knows the US has been unreliable. Just look at how they made and then broke treaties with Native Americans. It's part of the foundation of the country.
- Imustaskforhelp 7mo agoWithin Geopolitical commentaries that I used to watch, A famous quote by Henry Kissinger is often repeated. "to be an enemy of america can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal" So yeah, America has never been trustworthy in a way but it still had its upsides and it still had some laws and checks and people still believed in some aspects of the American dream somewhat, Not anymore. But now?,it has never been this less trustworthy either in a way to the whole world.
- kqr 7mo agoThe Apollo missions were the greatest scientific accomplishment by the Soviet Union. History repeats.
- srean 7mo agoCould you elaborate ? Intrigued.
- sph 7mo agoNo USSR = no Cold War = no space race which lands us on the moon
- srean 7mo agoAh ! makes sense. Meta point, I know it's considered line noise to respond to a comment with "I see", "I agree", "Yes". But just upvoting seems so unsatisfying. Almost rude, like standing someone up who actually took the time to answer you.
- originalvichy 7mo agoCovid, Russia and the axis of US+Israel has done massive damage to the European psyche. Covid showed us how economically dependent we are to major manufacturing countries like China. Paper money != ability to manufacture. Russia broke any notion of peace that can be funded by cheap energy. It will always be a tool used against you, and Russia will not change. The axis of US+Israel is breaking down the international system of laws and diplomacy. It’s going to be in a state even worse than the heights of the Cold War. Nukes are now a more favored instrument of peace compared to diplomacy. Is it worth fighting for what we had, or should we fight for something better? Who knows. (Edit: I don’t think non-Europeans can appreciate the whiplash suffered in our populations. In the span of around two years, European leaders drew red lines on political, economical and cultural decoupling from Russia based on human rights and the rule of law, then had to explain why preventable atrocities happening to civilians in the Mideast is not against our values and laws concerning human rights.)
- velancogito 7mo agoI could be wrong, but I've experienced the opposite. Seeing Putin and Trump openly undermine and threaten the EU forced countries to address the situation and take action. It's encouraging. I'm looking at this situation from Hungary tho, where Russian influence began 10–16 years ago. It seems Hungary has a chance to get rid of Orbán, and the rest of Europe is also taking measures finally. It's nice. The war in Ukraine is literally at the EU's border. It could be destabilizing in many ways. It's not just about moral reasons. By the way, I see similarities between Putin and Trump as they both started wars against big countries without thinking ahead more than three days. It's one more reason to strengthen the EU.
- jacquesm 7mo agoIt is pretty scary how many Hungarians are willing to jump back under the Russian boot. Much strength to you in the coming election.
- heraldgeezer 7mo agoDamage? It has strengthened us. Nordics and the Baltics are very pro Ukraine, we have a common enemy now to focus on. Poland has stepped up too militarlity. Sweden where I am has seen a HUGE uplift in military spend, and the companies like SAAB and Bofors (heheh) Germany is the big loser as they had cheap Russian energy and shut down their nuclear plants. Where in Europe are you from exactly? EU overall is pro Ukraine except for Hungary... In summary, what are you on about? And post your passport. Oh, and Israel is our ally. I am sick of EU being so pro Hamas and pro Iran. Thankfully our government cut down on grants to the MENA and increased to Ukraine!
- fluidcruft 7mo agoI'm of pretty mixed feelings about this. It certainly strengthened Europe's collective defense priorities and awareness. That response happens to include NATO but primarily because Europe is too weak without NATO. Europe used to be full of world powers and now they collectively can't manage collective defense without the US? There's something very learned-helplessness about that. And yes, it certainly has served America's interests to have a weak Europe that's dependent on it. But seeing that as "good will" seems like a distortion.
- fifilura 7mo agoMaybe a bit of learned helplessness, but what people tend to forget is that an all-in Russia is a formidable enemy. This is the moment it helps to have allies. Like an insurance. Even if you can manage without, it hurts less if you have them. To me it makes more sense to focus on that perspective.
- energy123 7mo agoKissinger warned about this in 1969: > Tutelage is a comfortable relationship for the senior partner, but it is demoralizing in the long run. It breeds illusions of omniscience on one side and attitudes of impotent irresponsibility on the other
- mcv 7mo agoEurope's weakness is mostly in their heads. The US is the most powerful military in the world, but the second most powerful military is NATO without the US. If the rest of NATO pulls together and reorganises into an effective military that doesn't depend on the US, it would be a force to be reckoned with. Europe could easily defeat Russia without outside help (look at how well Ukraine is doing with far less!), but we still fear Russia because that's what we're used to. That's what we were told to do and what we have embraced. We need to grow out of that and stand on our own feet again.
- keybored 7mo agoGeopolitical moves like illegally invading a country aren’t necessarily planned to be the one grand thing that weakens the opponent. In particular it strengthening Nato is not necessarily ironic, and it seems like an oversimplification to even suggest it.
- epsteingpt 7mo agoThis isn't true. People hated Americans in the 2000s invasion of Iraq. There were popular rock songs about it and students were hesitant to say they were American. It seems to go in cycles. Next president many will forget. Such is the power and fickleness of the American system.