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NATO was formed to counter the threat of the Soviet Union which no longer exists. Russia is nothing like the same threat to the US that the Soviet Union was. Th
by graemep 16d ago
NATO was formed to counter the threat of the Soviet Union which no longer exists. Russia is nothing like the same threat to the US that the Soviet Union was. The US is now more concerned about China.
Europe was economically and militarily important globally than it now is. Therefore defending it is less important to the US than it used to be, while Asia has become more important to the US.
Russia is not even anything like the same threat to Europe that the Soviet Union was. It has been further weakened by the Ukraine war and it will take many years to recover.
As for nukes, there are two acknowledged nuclear powers in western Europe.
- verzali 16d agoDoes the US really want to be facing a Europe with multiple nuclear powers and thousands of warheads? Europe is a sleeping giant. America has long seen it advantageous to keep the giant sleeping. Now it is dancing around shouting "nee-naw" while the giant slowly opens its eyes.
- graemep 16d ago> Does the US really want to be facing a Europe with multiple nuclear powers and thousands of warheads? Why not? There is no causus belli to fear, and Russia and China already have lots of weapons. Europe is not really a sleeping giant. People here are in denial about the decline of the west (as shown by downvotes) but Europe is simply not the power it used to be. Just look at the GDP of Europe as a a proportion of global GDP. It has been the slowest growing region for decades.
- r721 16d ago>The US is now more concerned about China. Ah, that's why "U.S. pulls last aircraft carrier in Asia" :) https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-pulls-last-aircraft-carrier-in-asia-as-trump-focuses-on-iran-and-the-western-hemisphere https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-pulls-last-aircraft-c...
- pjc50 16d agoYeah, recent events have clarified how much Israel and Saudi (and Bahrain, Jordan etc) are real defense priorities for the US. Expended a lot of Patriot interceptors and lost several aircraft on the ground including an incredibly expensive E-3 Sentry.
- GJim 16d ago> recent events have clarified how much Israel and Saudi (and Bahrain, Jordan etc) are real defense priorities for the US. And why might that be? Presumably because the USA decided to start a pointless war in the middle east?
- pjc50 16d agoYes. The real priorities are not the stated priorities because the administration is lying and/or making extremely poor decisions.
- graemep 16d agoIts not the last aircraft carrier in Asia, as there are three in the Indian Ocean. It is also a failure, not a policy, and if the US is struggling in more important regions its all the more reason to pull back from Europe.
- laughing_man 13d agoThere's no active war in the Far East, at least for the US. Of course you bring mobile assets to where the fighting is right now.