Who does one call to get Europe on the phone? What is causing all the economic problems?
And what is happening in Ukraine and why?
And what should the USA be doing in all this? And is the USA an empire?
10 thoughts on “Meanwhile, In Europe”
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First, are we an empire? An empire can, and does, enforce its will on those nations where it has concerns. We cannot even bring ourselves to deport foreign invaders killing our people.
We are just waiting to be pillaged.
As for what should do about Europe? We can do NOTHING about Europe. If they will not try to deal with their own problems, nothing anyone outside can do will help. They are in a hole and will not follow the first rule of holes.
They handcuff their own economies, and they refuse to protect their citizens from the invaders they invited in. If they won’t fight for themselves, no one else can do it for them.
Under current NATO rules members are supposed to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense. Only a few of the 20+ members do that. My new rule is if you want us to be your ally, you must spend as much on defense as we do.
Who does one call to get Asia on the phone? Who does one call to get Africa on the phone? Who does one call to get South America on the phone?
The original remark is so stupid that it’s hard to believe that Kissinger said it.
“An empire can, and does, enforce its will on those nations where it has concerns.” Only a competent empire.
Who does one call to get Asia on the phone? Who does one call to get Africa on the phone? Who does one call to get South America on the phone?
Except we don’t see and African Union and an Afro for currency, do we? His point is the European Union is not just not working too well, it’s actively coming unglued and falling apart as we watch. I get the impression he doesn’t expect it to survive too long in its current form. He also thinks there’s very little we can do to affect things there.
First, are we an empire? An empire can, and does, enforce its will on those nations where it has concerns. We cannot even bring ourselves to deport foreign invaders killing our people.
He believes yes, we are a maritime empire, but we’re also in denial about it. He thinks it would be more effective to simply acknowledge our position and pursue our goals carefully, but with an eye to what we can influence and can’t.
“An empire can, and does, enforce its will on those nations where it has concerns.” Only a competent empire.
Well, that counts Europe out.
“Except we don’t see and African Union and an Afro for currency, do we? ” You miss the point.
http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/2009/07/kissinger-never-wanted-to-dial-europe/
Your empire is unraveling. It has lost it’s rather complete control of Europe and the Middle East for starters.
It shot it’s self in the foot over the coup engineered in the Ukraine. That was to separate the rather successful Europe/Russia trade which made that block slightly larger economically that the US. That did sort work and the EU and NATO still pontificate about Russia’s perfidy. The Sanctions are the bullet lodged in the US’s foot. They hurt Russia, but also the EU and Europe in general. This has produced a less complaint Europe just when the US needs them onside.
It went to war against Russia. There is no other interpretation, especially from their point of view. This has produced payback and that is the other self administered wound, a much nastier one. The Syrian government invited the Russians to intervene. They are the only legal forces operating in Syria now and since Erdogan shot down that jet, all bets are off. (I love Snatch). ;) This has left the US twisting in the wind and their clients are sick of the US prevarications. The Saudis etc are hooking up with the Turks and Erdogan see’s his chance to be the new Sultan. It would be hilarious, but so many people have and are going to die over this.
This was started to give the Qataris a pipeline through Syria and break Russian control of the EU’s energy.
We had control of Europe for a short span of time after WWII. Our mission in Europe was to provide a wall against Russian expansion and give Europe space to recover from the war. That was successful. But we have no control over Europe now, only some influence, and that is very limited.
We never had control of the Middle East. A few strategic allies are not control. To a large extent, they are going to do what they want to do in terms of what they see is best for them.
Back to Europe, they are free to trade with whomever they wish. They are certainly free to trade with Russia for energy. However, once that relationship got going and Russia felt they had Europe over a barrel, they jacked up prices. This drove Europe to look for alternate energy supplies. Again, they are free to purchase energy wherever they see fit.
The Turks, Syrians, Saudis, Iran, Isis, they’re having a war over control of Syria and they have fractured along religious lines. Nothing new there. Russia has come in for its longtime client Assad and against the expansion of Isis, which is a threat to Russia’s southern flank. The USA figures in this barely at all.
To the degree the USA has an empire it is a maritime empire. We keep the sea lanes open to allow trade to occur safely. It also allows us to militarily influence events on land since most of the world’s population and industrial centers are with a few hundred miles of the coast. We have no subjects or vassal states answerable to us, as the USSR had in Eastern Europe. We have no states paying us tribute. We maintain no colonies. In that sense, the classical sense, we have no empire. We have lots of complex relationships though.
“The USA figures in this barely at all.”
“If you say so” Riddick, speaking to the Grand Master, after being told the minder he had just offed, was his best fighter.
The French et al have denied the Russian proposal at the Security Council, which said that no more foreign troops should be deployed to Syria. This makes Russian/Turkey conflict almost inevitable.