"babying' Europe" DID we have a choice after WW2? I don't think so!
I would like to see the end of American Bases here in Europe.
I also would like to see Europe supporting Russia, this excludes the dying UK.
UK will die fighting for the USA.
I am sufficiently aware that the only reason we have US bases here in Europe is because "the forces that be in the USA wanted a foothold to carry out their UN -Democratic will over Europe.
I am not one of those people who believe that Russia would ever decimate Europe. We have history together........hundreds of years when the Russians fought WITH Europe.
What the US does NOT understand: History.
One could wipe the US off the map...........there is NO culture in the US.
Putin knows this.
You can call me all the names 'under the sun' but PUTIN will not wipe out Europe. OUR history is intertwined.
The more that I learn about the 1930's and the 2nd ww - [the financing and the material support] the more it looks like the stage was being prepared for the US to take over from the Nazi's.
There's far more to this - this is long term planning - there were a few more agenda's in play.
NATO=USA=war=geopolitical meddling in other people's business=organizing regime changes=contributing to coups d'état.
If Europe wants to be independent and continue as a mature continent, it can create the European Treaty Organization, based on peace, not war. It can even join BRICS.
This article may be providing tacit support to the American's ongoing and aggressive "pivot to Asia". This time the pivot means preparing for the "inevitable'" war with China. Meanwhile of course Russia and China are increasing ties as two great Eurasian powers both under threat from the US, and in the case of Russia, under actual attack.
So wherever the US looks, it gets continually reminded that it is no longer the all-dominant global hegemon. On the non-realist, robot-war-is-cool side of analysis, Wired has a new article hyping the "thousands of drones to make the Taiwan Strait a hellscape if China invades Taiwan" Pentagon plan, meant to hold off China until the US and its proxies-Japan, Australia, and Philippines - can get into position to defend Taiwan. That plan is more craziness from Pentagon fantasy-land but the article goes into great detail on existing and planned drone capabilities of both the US and China, so its worth reading. I do think that China will not "invade" its own territory short of a Taiwan declaration of independence (if that happens its WW3) so the thousands of drones will, I hope, just result in profits to line the pockets of the arms industry rather than fighting the Chinese military.
As Ali Abunimah has stated, looking at the world geographically, what we call Europe is an appendage of the much larger Asian land mass. Historically speaking the 500 year era of global empires centred on Western Europe and the US is coming to an end.
Indeed the US should've left long ago. But NATO doubles as a purchasing club for the influential US weapons industry, and the EU acts as an indispensable pillar of the US sanctions regime, which still has leverage over some mid-sized countries (which the US badly needs now), but had its core power broken after Russia, China, India, and ASEAN showed that it's straightforward to ignore it.
So, to make a long story short, the US isn't going to leave. In fact the Europeans are as vassalized as they've been since just after WWII. In my view, when US policy organs periodically push the message of European "independence", they're just trying to get European NATO countries to buy more overpriced US military hardware.
Do not forget that empires never let go of their colonies willingly. US only "protects" Europe to the extent that US corporate interests need protecting, mainly from any attempt at true sovereignty. European countries have willingly or unwillingly become become colonies of the US empire and as such it is up to them, not the US, to decide whether or not to remain subservient or to throw off the yoke of colonialism.
Thank you for pointing out this American thinking. It complies with Mearsheimer who argues for many years in that direction. It is, of course, only a piece of discussion, not set politics. For Germany such a development as pointed out in Foreign Affairs would certainly open up the door for a new Bismarck to enter into our politics. May be not only certainly, but surely, as the German perspective by the geopolitical nature of our landscape is only to the east. There is nothing to gain westwards of the Rhine.
It makes financial sense for the US to leave Europe but in the context of the grand confrontation with China, "leaving Europe" only makes geopolitical sense if can mean "regaining" Russia, allowing a Russia-Europe detente and thereby splitting the always fragile SCO and BRICS. That would be a stunning success for the US, if it could pull it off. Way better than simply losing a war against Russia in Ukraine.
Well written and concise.
"babying' Europe" DID we have a choice after WW2? I don't think so!
I would like to see the end of American Bases here in Europe.
I also would like to see Europe supporting Russia, this excludes the dying UK.
UK will die fighting for the USA.
I am sufficiently aware that the only reason we have US bases here in Europe is because "the forces that be in the USA wanted a foothold to carry out their UN -Democratic will over Europe.
I am not one of those people who believe that Russia would ever decimate Europe. We have history together........hundreds of years when the Russians fought WITH Europe.
What the US does NOT understand: History.
One could wipe the US off the map...........there is NO culture in the US.
Putin knows this.
You can call me all the names 'under the sun' but PUTIN will not wipe out Europe. OUR history is intertwined.
The more that I learn about the 1930's and the 2nd ww - [the financing and the material support] the more it looks like the stage was being prepared for the US to take over from the Nazi's.
There's far more to this - this is long term planning - there were a few more agenda's in play.
Yeah I think so too.
No, Europe should divorce from the USA, and NATO.
NATO=USA=war=geopolitical meddling in other people's business=organizing regime changes=contributing to coups d'état.
If Europe wants to be independent and continue as a mature continent, it can create the European Treaty Organization, based on peace, not war. It can even join BRICS.
Fascinating ideas here. Let's hope it doesn't go down the "We have always been at war with Eurasia" route.
I think I can see your point Joy. Refer to my comment above.
I am not sure what you are saying here JOy. You are usually very precise.
This article may be providing tacit support to the American's ongoing and aggressive "pivot to Asia". This time the pivot means preparing for the "inevitable'" war with China. Meanwhile of course Russia and China are increasing ties as two great Eurasian powers both under threat from the US, and in the case of Russia, under actual attack.
So wherever the US looks, it gets continually reminded that it is no longer the all-dominant global hegemon. On the non-realist, robot-war-is-cool side of analysis, Wired has a new article hyping the "thousands of drones to make the Taiwan Strait a hellscape if China invades Taiwan" Pentagon plan, meant to hold off China until the US and its proxies-Japan, Australia, and Philippines - can get into position to defend Taiwan. That plan is more craziness from Pentagon fantasy-land but the article goes into great detail on existing and planned drone capabilities of both the US and China, so its worth reading. I do think that China will not "invade" its own territory short of a Taiwan declaration of independence (if that happens its WW3) so the thousands of drones will, I hope, just result in profits to line the pockets of the arms industry rather than fighting the Chinese military.
As Ali Abunimah has stated, looking at the world geographically, what we call Europe is an appendage of the much larger Asian land mass. Historically speaking the 500 year era of global empires centred on Western Europe and the US is coming to an end.
Indeed the US should've left long ago. But NATO doubles as a purchasing club for the influential US weapons industry, and the EU acts as an indispensable pillar of the US sanctions regime, which still has leverage over some mid-sized countries (which the US badly needs now), but had its core power broken after Russia, China, India, and ASEAN showed that it's straightforward to ignore it.
So, to make a long story short, the US isn't going to leave. In fact the Europeans are as vassalized as they've been since just after WWII. In my view, when US policy organs periodically push the message of European "independence", they're just trying to get European NATO countries to buy more overpriced US military hardware.
Do not forget that empires never let go of their colonies willingly. US only "protects" Europe to the extent that US corporate interests need protecting, mainly from any attempt at true sovereignty. European countries have willingly or unwillingly become become colonies of the US empire and as such it is up to them, not the US, to decide whether or not to remain subservient or to throw off the yoke of colonialism.
Thank you for pointing out this American thinking. It complies with Mearsheimer who argues for many years in that direction. It is, of course, only a piece of discussion, not set politics. For Germany such a development as pointed out in Foreign Affairs would certainly open up the door for a new Bismarck to enter into our politics. May be not only certainly, but surely, as the German perspective by the geopolitical nature of our landscape is only to the east. There is nothing to gain westwards of the Rhine.
It makes financial sense for the US to leave Europe but in the context of the grand confrontation with China, "leaving Europe" only makes geopolitical sense if can mean "regaining" Russia, allowing a Russia-Europe detente and thereby splitting the always fragile SCO and BRICS. That would be a stunning success for the US, if it could pull it off. Way better than simply losing a war against Russia in Ukraine.