As the US bids farewell to Neoconservatism's 'Project for a New American Century', the emergence of the surrealist turn in IR signifies the intensification of delusions in EU/Europe
Time to dust off the "Neutral Nuke" then. That was the name of Sweden's nuclear weapons program, abolished during the late 1960s/early 1070s due to heavy-handed US pressure being applied.
The idea was, having tactical nuclear weapons (kilotonne-range only) and a mobile artillery platform capable of launching them 5+ kilometers from anywhere to any target, would make the prospect of invasion/occupation by Soviet forces too expensive, and would shut off the Northern front in case of Cold War going hot.
Russia will certainly not settle for anything less than European concessions and payouts, to grind it in deep that siding with someone in a war comes with costs, should you fail to win.
Also, why would Russia or the US care about Europeans present? Both Putin and Trump understand that the EU is too dead-set on defeating Russia, which seems to be off the table in DC…
It may sound ridiculous today, but back then well over 5% of GDP went into the military and 99% of all men age 18 and above had at least 12 months of military training, mandatory.
(And Swedish conscripts used to whup US special forces in military sports tournaments.)
What is maybe an overlooked detail nowadays is that the EU before the 2000s was aiming for a "European Identity" as distinct from American influence, both culturally, politically and financially - and I well remember how panicked parts of the US media was when Germany reunited: they greatly feared a resurgent Central European power ridding itself of the American boot on their neck.
Possibly the real reason America started targeting Europe with what is today called multiculturalist and woke ideas, was to make us unable to throw them off.
I think you're right about this--some of these 'woke' notions are clearly, if not so-named, apparent in Hollywood movies from the (early) 1990s, which we're watching with our kids every now and then.
The greatest absurdity is that European integration is essentially the combination of the losers of 1940 (France, Benelux), 1943 (Italy), and 1945 (Germany) under the 'security umbrella' of the US. Curiously, the other loser of 1945 (the UK) was never really 'in' on this project, and now it's becoming ever more obvious: prior to the 2007/08 crisis, the EU was on track overtaking the US economically, which reinforces your notion.
In the end, if 'we' would make the US troops leave (which I doubt they'd do despite the possible end of NATO), I suppose the re-emergence of 'older' sentiments will follow suit…
(Imagine that you are an upper tier manager of some sorts inside Blackrock, Vanguard or other such MegaCorp.)
By 2022, it was obvious that woke was failing, in gaming, movies and other parts of the entertainment industry (and in other industries as well). Any franchise made woke tanked, and was seen as toxic by old fans, and uninteresting by prospective new ones. The idea was played out.
Politics, moving slower than business, would take time to turn away from woke for lots of reasons, and a RINO or Democrat president would never be able to, even if willing, to run the USA the way the oligarchs owning its economy wants it run.
What to do?
Ensure that Biden is a no-go as a candidate, and make sure his replacement is bad enough to make Trump look good. Meanwhile, quietly re-arrange matters so you are set to profit off of Trump's predictable antics. Maybe even provide Trump with a handler, who can ensure woke/DEI gets cleaned up without touching the real money (military contracts, energy, IP/copyright/trademarks and anything related).
And long-term, prepare for a Vance presidency geared to be antagonistic to Europe, friendly with Russia, stand-offish with China and sycophantic to Israel and the Moslem states surrounding it (US ties to Saudi runs back to before WW1 even, Egypt controls the Suez on American say-so, et c).
As I've pissed off some Americans by pointing out:
It took Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to make Trump look like the best possible option.
As to the last sentence, this is how to set up a false dichotomy (dialectic); once you're in the witches' circle, their rules apply.
As to Trump-Vance (forever™), well, Trump will be a 'lame duck' in about 1.5 years, so, the best way to set this up would be resign as peacemaker, the one who 'Made America Great Again™', and step aside for Vance to run in 2028 as the incumbent with another two terms as option.
My hunch is that the current MAGA crowd will do essentially the Great Reset, albeit not in a Globalist-WEF-UN mould but dominated by sheer power projection by the US. The methods may vary, eventually, but the end result will be the same: a CBDC to 'complement' the US$, and to keep the promise not to do CBDCs, it'll be Bitcoin or otherwise 'private' (lol) thing, e.g., the X Coin or whatever. Same with the global domination thing, all will be America First™, which isn't Americans first, etc.
Time to dust off the "Neutral Nuke" then. That was the name of Sweden's nuclear weapons program, abolished during the late 1960s/early 1070s due to heavy-handed US pressure being applied.
The idea was, having tactical nuclear weapons (kilotonne-range only) and a mobile artillery platform capable of launching them 5+ kilometers from anywhere to any target, would make the prospect of invasion/occupation by Soviet forces too expensive, and would shut off the Northern front in case of Cold War going hot.
Russia will certainly not settle for anything less than European concessions and payouts, to grind it in deep that siding with someone in a war comes with costs, should you fail to win.
Muahahahaha.
Also, why would Russia or the US care about Europeans present? Both Putin and Trump understand that the EU is too dead-set on defeating Russia, which seems to be off the table in DC…
It may sound ridiculous today, but back then well over 5% of GDP went into the military and 99% of all men age 18 and above had at least 12 months of military training, mandatory.
(And Swedish conscripts used to whup US special forces in military sports tournaments.)
What is maybe an overlooked detail nowadays is that the EU before the 2000s was aiming for a "European Identity" as distinct from American influence, both culturally, politically and financially - and I well remember how panicked parts of the US media was when Germany reunited: they greatly feared a resurgent Central European power ridding itself of the American boot on their neck.
Possibly the real reason America started targeting Europe with what is today called multiculturalist and woke ideas, was to make us unable to throw them off.
I think you're right about this--some of these 'woke' notions are clearly, if not so-named, apparent in Hollywood movies from the (early) 1990s, which we're watching with our kids every now and then.
The greatest absurdity is that European integration is essentially the combination of the losers of 1940 (France, Benelux), 1943 (Italy), and 1945 (Germany) under the 'security umbrella' of the US. Curiously, the other loser of 1945 (the UK) was never really 'in' on this project, and now it's becoming ever more obvious: prior to the 2007/08 crisis, the EU was on track overtaking the US economically, which reinforces your notion.
In the end, if 'we' would make the US troops leave (which I doubt they'd do despite the possible end of NATO), I suppose the re-emergence of 'older' sentiments will follow suit…
On my out but here's some paranoia-fuel:
(Imagine that you are an upper tier manager of some sorts inside Blackrock, Vanguard or other such MegaCorp.)
By 2022, it was obvious that woke was failing, in gaming, movies and other parts of the entertainment industry (and in other industries as well). Any franchise made woke tanked, and was seen as toxic by old fans, and uninteresting by prospective new ones. The idea was played out.
Politics, moving slower than business, would take time to turn away from woke for lots of reasons, and a RINO or Democrat president would never be able to, even if willing, to run the USA the way the oligarchs owning its economy wants it run.
What to do?
Ensure that Biden is a no-go as a candidate, and make sure his replacement is bad enough to make Trump look good. Meanwhile, quietly re-arrange matters so you are set to profit off of Trump's predictable antics. Maybe even provide Trump with a handler, who can ensure woke/DEI gets cleaned up without touching the real money (military contracts, energy, IP/copyright/trademarks and anything related).
And long-term, prepare for a Vance presidency geared to be antagonistic to Europe, friendly with Russia, stand-offish with China and sycophantic to Israel and the Moslem states surrounding it (US ties to Saudi runs back to before WW1 even, Egypt controls the Suez on American say-so, et c).
As I've pissed off some Americans by pointing out:
It took Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to make Trump look like the best possible option.
As to the last sentence, this is how to set up a false dichotomy (dialectic); once you're in the witches' circle, their rules apply.
As to Trump-Vance (forever™), well, Trump will be a 'lame duck' in about 1.5 years, so, the best way to set this up would be resign as peacemaker, the one who 'Made America Great Again™', and step aside for Vance to run in 2028 as the incumbent with another two terms as option.
My hunch is that the current MAGA crowd will do essentially the Great Reset, albeit not in a Globalist-WEF-UN mould but dominated by sheer power projection by the US. The methods may vary, eventually, but the end result will be the same: a CBDC to 'complement' the US$, and to keep the promise not to do CBDCs, it'll be Bitcoin or otherwise 'private' (lol) thing, e.g., the X Coin or whatever. Same with the global domination thing, all will be America First™, which isn't Americans first, etc.
There seems some amnesia here around the fact that both the UK and France have a nuclear deterrent.
Fellow Austrian speaks, starting at about 55 1/2 minutes into this pretty good podcast
Ralph Schoellhammer
https://rumble.com/v6mek1l-breaking-trump-and-putin-nearing-peace-but-european-warmongers-trying-to-st.html