I mean, yeah? They are literally talking about invading former allies.
this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
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Despite all the noise around this, I find it strange how little we seem to be taking this seriously, like they're the ramblings of a confused old man rather than threats made by the president of the United States...
Canadian here, I feel the exact same way... like why is no one taking a firm stand against this guy!
Same feeling 8 years ago, honestly.
They let themselves go too much
We should stop calling it "the west" then.
It's always been a ridiculous name for a group that includes Australia, Europe, and USA.
We should think of a new name...
The Free World
What is this, 2010?
^TM^
The Last States of Democracy
Nice acronym
Kingdom of the billionaires.
the empire
The free world maybe?
Because if ya ain't white, you can't be free!
the Imperial Core is already a more descriptive name, methinks
The "other side" is imperial too. That doesn't make sense.
The entire thing is just imperial powers battling and using everything in-between as pawns.
Do you think Russia, China and Saudi Arabia aren't doing the same thing to places?
No need for whataboutism when discussing the imperial tendencies and supremacy in the west.
not a whataboutism
imagine if we named the West, the guys with guns. The other guys have guns too so it's not a great name. That's not a whataboutism lol
I guess "NATO and friends" might be a bit shortsighted?
NATO and Friends sounds like some Paw Patrol type cartoon.
There's also Canada, NZ, South America, a lot of Africa and Asia
No country in South America, Africa or Asia is part of "the west".
I admit I forgot Canada and New Zealand, as is tradition.
The point was to stop using the term the west, because there's a lot more
Japan and South Korea aren't in Asia? I'd certainly count them as "western", especially Japan. if I'm feeling especially generous I might provisionally include Brazil too.
I wouldn't. You're mistaking countries under the thumb of the West as being the West
WWII and Korea are how those countries came about their position today. I don't think they're entirely against their position but they don't have a seat at the table like the others do
Japan's the third largest economy in the world and they aligned themselves with the West in the Meiji restoration. they sought imperial conquest of their neighbors in the 1900s. what more do you want for them to be the West
Not willingly. This is a core tenet of meoliberalism.
Japan has blurred porn because of the US. Any laws Japan has made that US citizens have to follow? Nope. How many Japanese military bases exist in America. 0.
They do not have an equal seat at the table.
They have has as much of a seat as warrants their size and economic power, perhaps even more because of their location as a buffer against China. Most EU countries have pull only because they are part of the EU. Compare Spain and Japan on the world stage, for example.
I understand what you're saying but how many Japanese military bases exist on US soil?
It's not an equal seat
I don't think that's a reasonable metric. Germany and the UK wouldn't be considered influential either, and yet they are.
Paywall. Someone kind enough to share a link?
Thank you!
I suppose the article was free for a time if it could be archived? I'll check next time
Yes ofc.. Everything Trump has been saying and doing is insane.
But [ maybe] we should also be carefull about simply parroting US media. It seems the USA media en politicians want to escalate this. Actually, the US media while apperantly trashing Trump, may be playing exactly in his hands.
Or am I stretching it? I mean have you noticed how the (established) EU media and politicians have been more nuanced in their reports?
It doesn't matter. USA has shown again, that they're an unreliable partner. You have good relations with President A and a few years later, everything is down the drain with President B. You can't build a solid relationship on that basis. You now have the worlds strongest military in the hands of a billionare and I don't mean Trump.
Canada and EU should plan their future without US involved.
Regardless of βofficial policyβ, I will always stand with Ukraine. In fact, now more than ever, it might be time I get a Ukraine flag to fly on my house.
Better send that money towards their drone production.
European Reactions to the U.S. Retreat From Democracy
[...] Three levels of concern are emerging.
First, and of most immediate importance, is the issue of international democracy funding. With nearly all U.S. democracy aid dramatically frozen, European donors are already receiving hundreds of requests to provide emergency support to the affected civil society recipients. [...] European funding for democratic governance is around β¬4 billion ($4.2 billion) a year, compared with U.S. funding of around $3 billion, meaning European donors would need to increase funding levels by around 75 percent to cover the shortfall entirely [...]
A second concern is more self-protective [as] many in the EU and European governments fear they face a more crucial task of defending European democracy itself from brazen and truculent U.S. assaults. Far from filling the gap left by suspended U.S. funding, the EU seems to be on a trend toward diverting more resources internallyβthat is, into protecting European democracy from harmful U.S. interventions. The Trump administration has supported the far-right figures who are unsettling European democracy, while U.S. big tech is now seen as a major threat to political pluralism in Europe [...]
A third level of putative adjustment relates to the broader shape of global democratic alliances. Beyond the EUβs own funding choices, the question arises of how far international cooperation on democracy can now be built without the United States [...] Non-Western democracies have often complained about heavy-handed U.S. leadership of the democracy agenda [...] A key question is whether these democracies will want to invest large amounts of resources in a post-U.S. democracy agenda. They will now face a crucial test of whether they are willing to adopt such proactive agency [...]
The eagle of liberty now has two heads