Time to kick them out of the nest, off the dole, and tell them to stand on their own two feet!
Posted on 07/11/2022 3:46:19 AM PDT by FarCenter
The ongoing political and military standoff between Russia and the United States is the most recent indicator that Europe’s security and economic architecture must be transformed to harmonize European and Russian strategic interests.
In other words, the path toward ending the war in Ukraine requires focusing on the security priorities of those who have the most to gain from a diplomatic solution — European nations, not the US. Peaceful co-existence is dependent upon successful negotiations among European capitals and Moscow.
The war in Ukraine did not start on February 24, 2022, but has been ongoing since 2014. Between 2014 and 2022, more than 15,000 people have died, creating a humanitarian disaster for Ukraine and its eastern Donbas region.
The protracted conflict has been riddled with missed opportunities for diplomatic action, confrontation and limited strategic thinking.
(Excerpt) Read more at asiatimes.com ...
btt
The EU is still just a hapless lapdog of the US, and they won’t do anything until they start experiencing social and economic unrest as a result of the Russian sanctions. Just as the US has led Ukraine down the primrose path to self destruction, so to will Europe suffer unless they put a quick end to this mess that they acceded to. The EU is a paper tiger still dependent on the US for their military security, and thus remain a vassal state of the US. And unless and until they develop an adequate military force of their own, they will remain a vassal state.
I hate to say it, but I think you are correct.
However there is hope for both Europe & Russia . The US is on a downward spiral that rivals the 1980s Soviet Union.
It’s clear from the Ukraine war that Europe doesn’t need the US military to provide security against Russian conventional forces. They can easily produce the missiles and drones needed for that.
On the other hand, the US cannot protect Europe from Russian nuclear weapons. They are, and always will be vulnerable.
“The US is on a downward spiral that rivals the 1980s Soviet Union.”
It is, and it’s sad to see!
“The US is on a downward spiral that rivals the 1980s Soviet Union.”
I agree, and I think the “liberal world order” they wish to preserve is just a euphemism for retaining the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. This doesn’t just help the US, the value of the yen and euro are also caught up in this mess, so they go along with our geopolitical strategy to keep the current system going and avoid a currency collapse.
But now they face the prospect of Russia, China, the BRICS nations, and most of the third world considering international trade outside of the dollar. The US seems to think they can keep all of these countries in line with the western financial system, but I’m not so sure that’s likely without WW3 to keep Russia and China from rising to power and upsetting the status quo. Personally I’ve always suspected this was the primary reason they wanted Trump gone, they knew he was unlikely to go along with their plans and therefore he had to be eliminated.
After WW3 you won't need currency.
You can’t un-ring a bell. We (Europe and the US) have entered mindlessly a new Cold War that has resulted in a global political realignment. Most of the world has not joined the sanctions against Russia. In fact, Turkey and Hungary, two NATO members, are not honoring the sanctions regime.
The US has provided the security umbrella for Western Europe since the end of WWII. It has allowed Europe to develop a generous welfare state. Despite paying lip service to NATO, most of the members were unwilling to spend even 2% of GDP on defense. NATO is a paper tiger. Its main purpose is to have the US act as the guarantor of their sovereignty up to and including nuclear war.
Europe is not a vassal state to the US. In fact, it is the other way around. Europe has used the US to provide its security while still conducting its own foreign policy. They allow Uncle Sap to think that he is in charge as long as he pays the bills. He is the stupid oaf that does their bidding.
Trump was the first US President to push back against NATO and use the leverage we have. He questioned the basic foundation of NATO, which is an anachronism in much the same way as the UN. He exposed how absurd the organization has become when he went to Brussels and the huge, new billions of dollars headquarters building.
Macron, Berlusconi, and other European leaders have talked about forming a military force outside NATO. But that would require additional funding. The Europeans have already chosen butter over guns. Politically, there is no will to dismantle the welfare state. And the reality is that Russia poses no real threat to Europe except for its nuclear arsenal. The EU dwarfs Russia economically and demographically.
“US cannot protect Europe from Russian nuclear weapons. They are, and always will be vulnerable.”
Russia’s interests lie in Eurasian economic integration, which would leave the US out in the cold. I don’t see Russia inclined to use nuclear blackmail to force Europe into such an arrangement, rather it’s the US throwing their military weight around to keep a US centric financial world order that Europe itself has bought into. But the western democracy’s economies depend on cheap energy to function, and cheap energy isn’t in the cards if Russian energy exports are stifled by sanctions.
Then there’s the issue of what the Mideast oil & gas producing countries do, Saudi Arabia is already accepting the yuan as payment for oil. Hard to say how all of this will play out, but I expect geopolitical tensions to remain high until these issues are resolved.
“Despite paying lip service to NATO, most of the members were unwilling to spend even 2% of GDP on defense.”
I think there’s an unspoken agreement that Europe allows the US the “exorbitant privilege” of being the world’s reserve currency with the understanding that we would use the economic benefits we gain from such a position to finance a military capable of preserving the current financial world order, which they themselves benefit from (to a lessor degree than the US). Notice back in 2008 when thing were collapsing we sent trillions to Europe to bail them out via swap lines and other financial mechanisms. We didn’t do this out of the goodness of our heart, it was necessary to preserve the Western financial system and keep the ponzi going. So yes Europe expects the US to pay the cost of providing the West’s military security, we are indirectly compensated for that by the financial benefits we gain from this position.
This is the one thing Trump never came to understand, he has a rather simplistic idea of how this thing works. If we tell Europe and our other allies to take a hike and pay for their own defense, chances are they won’t feel obliged to keep the US dollar as the reserve currency going forward.
“The purpose of the NATO alliance is "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.” ― Lord Ismay The British were keen to maintain their relevance after WW II by manipulating the Americans.
The EU could get cheap (or at least reasonably priced) oil and gas from the Middle East if they do direct, long-term deals with the Middle Eastern countries and cut out the Anglo-American oil interests.
They also need direct pipelines from the Gulf to Europe to bypass the sea-borne trade.
Time to kick them out of the nest, off the dole, and tell them to stand on their own two feet!
I think that is the plan, but many of the gas fields are not fully developed yet and there’s not enough pipelines in place at this time. So there will be a lag in time before Europe can easily switch from Russian energy to other sources. You would think that these idiots would have taken this into account before starting that proxy war with Russia.
The US started the Ukraine war on its timetable, not the EUs.
An the US has been successful in destabilizing Syria and alienating Turkey in order to prevent a Berlin-Baghdad axis.
Really? The US is the world’s biggest debtor nation. Besides the $30 trillion national debt, we have $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, i.e., SS and Medicare. Our annual debt servicing costs are close to $350 billion and that is expected to rise to $1 trillion in a decade.
The USD is the world’s reserve currency because of the size of our economy, not because the Europeans allow it. What would be the European alternative?
We have been pressing Europe to pay its fair share of defense costs since the 1970s. The US can no longer afford to be the world’s policeman. Europe must provide for its own defense as we struggle to contain China, the real threat to our security.
What will undo the USD is the global realignment over Ukraine. The BRIC countries along with Saudi Arabia are looking at replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. The sanctions against Russia have backfired.
“The USD is the world’s reserve currency because of the size of our economy, not because the Europeans allow it. What would be the European alternative?”
The alternative would be a basket of currencies or a commodity backed one, or Europe could just set up a swap line with whoever they are trading with. Having the largest economy perhaps makes it convenient to use the dollar as reserve currency, but without petro-dollar backing, it’s just another fiat currency that can be replaced by any other medium of exchange. By having the dollar as reserve currency we have been able to export much of our inflation to the other countries that abide by this system, but many third world countries are getting sick of putting up with the current state of affairs. We just keep them in line by threatening a military coup should they go off the reservation.
What? Local control over local problems? Why, that conflicts with the fantasy of a world connected!
Why, with such reasoning abortion would be an issue of the States!
We cannot have that!
Burn the heretic!
Easy to say, almost impossible to implement. The EU's experience with the Euro is a cautionary tale. It perpetuates German dominance over the EU. Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Sweden do not use the Euro. The UK didn't use it while in the EU.
By having the dollar as reserve currency we have been able to export much of our inflation to the other countries that abide by this system, but many third world countries are getting sick of putting up with the current state of affairs. We just keep them in line by threatening a military coup should they go off the reservation.
Whom exactly are we threatening with a military coup?
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