After Trump says he "would not protect" NATO allies that do not meet spending targets, German politicians who for years have failed to meet these targets have an entitled sad
After Trump says he "would not protect" NATO allies that do not meet spending targets, German politicians who for years have failed to meet these targets have an entitled sad
On Saturday, Donald Trump again expressed his impatience with NATO members like Germany, who shirk defence spending because they can rely on American deterrence: Speaking at a campaign rally in South Carolina, Trump said that while president he told NATO leaders that he would “encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want” to alliance members that are “delinquent” in meeting the group’s spending targets.
"The real reason that America continues to prop up NATO appears to be some combination of institutional inertia and what Stephen M. Walt has called the “full-employment strategy” of the interventionist American foreign policy establishment."
Allow me to offer a somewhat different explanation for this seeming incongruity. It involves making a conceptual distinction between two overlapping but at times orthogonally interested entities: the US Republic and the American Empire.
The former represents the interests of the median citizen of the US. The latter represents the interests of the average American. The median American earns $50k a year, never or rarely leaves the territory of the United States. His interests would be better served by less trade, closed borders and a smaller, less militarised federal government that engaged in few if any overseas adventures. He would like the US military to be regeared towards defense of US territories and interests narrowly defined. A simplified tax system that taxes all income and retained earnings on a simple scale with few if any exemptions.
The latter, the Empire, represents the interest not just of an average American on $80k a year, but in fact it also has constituents in the upper classes of its vassal states in Europe and its international community that spans the globe (with some notable black spots of course). This Empire is reliant on international trade, global patent protection and financial flows that cross borders and tax jurisdictions with ease. It depends on trade, and deploys a vast network of military bases across the globe to defend that trade. It is aligned with the interests of large corporations and run by a managerial class that is captured by the corporations it is supposed to regulate. It wants ever more military spending, and it is indifferent to the fate of US citizens whose interests are challenged by mass migration.
In short, the US republic does not want NATO; the American Empire considers NATO its own.
Naturally, Germans are not the only ones having a butthurt. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said that Trump’s statements “undermine all of our security.”
None more so than Stoltenbergs's own job security.
Without NATO's fat salary and no heavy lifting, Jens might have to one day grow up and find a real job.
With Germany already in the economic doldrums, it would probably bankrupt them if it had to pay its fair share.
Had Germany stayed neutral or had Angela M followed the Minsk Agreement, non of this would be an issue, the Nord Stream pipeline would still be intact and Germany's economy would be humming along.
It's a weird world when Trump says not to rely too much on Russian oil, and Europe laughs at him -- but when he says they better pay their 'fair share' in defense and they freak out like Trump declared war on the Eurozone.
Thanks for this, I always value the inside track on the German view of things.
This strikes me as further proof that the German political establishment’s principal role is to justify and support American hegemony in Europe.
Germany, based on your recent posts, seems an extreme case, albeit the same idiocy on a milder scale is found in the UK (and, interestingly, Ireland which is ludicrously supposed to be neutral).
I expect Trump to achieve nothing. I expect the AfD to achieve nothing, nor Farage, Le Pen, etc.
We are living through the collapse of the American Empire. Its motive power, in the form of desirable new consumer products, has died, and is being sustained now only by parasitical and destructive measures like the green agenda. Its liberating mission, in the form of the sexual revolution, has been an unmitigated disaster whose real-world effects have rendered the Empire’s population weak, unable to reproduce itself, and addicted to pleasure. Its political manoeuvres have finally failed, avoiding real redistribution of wealth post-2008 only to hand the keys to power to lunatics with an agenda which guarantees failure and incompetence.
This will inevitably end in the failure of the regime. I no longer believe there is much we can do about it. There is much of historical interest in what is going on, and the future is unusually uncertain.
I hope and pray we avoid the worst outcome on the road to something new and, God willing, better.
Germans are out of control. We want Trump exactly because he’s telling everyone the gravy train is over. The American tax payer is not responsible for Germany’s security…the Germans are.
If they don’t pay the 2% of GDP everyone agreed to then you don’t get protected. Europeans need to understand that Trump supporters have had enough.
Another excellent piece, 'gyp, and your first point is number one for a reason. Combine this with another wrinkle from the American perspective, and it's apparent what the tension is here. Americans see Europeans enjoying "free" healthcare, pensions, six weeks off every summer, etc. None of that is what they enjoy. How is this possible? Because the USA subsidises all of it by footing the bill for Europe's military defenses, so the euros stay in-country on the societal goodies. The spotlight of all those billions flooding from US taxpayers (read: the Fed printing press) into Ukraine has really drawn Americans' focus on the need to prop up our own infrastructure and society, and where all those dollars might better be spent. Interesting times, but one thing remains constant: Trump and Putin are EVIL!
All the American regime stooges are losing their minds over Trump's comment, and of course it's all in complete bad faith. As they so often do, the press-titutes take Trump's words literally, like they were typed in a policy document, and ignore the obvious bluster and hyperbole of his delivery and the context of the remark.
The press storyline in the US is, without any shame for their chicanery, "Trump says he will let Putin conquer Europe" and words to that effect. It's embarassing.
many excellent points here, but also we should consider that given recent German leadership the German people would actually benefit from Russian rule.
"The real reason that America continues to prop up NATO appears to be some combination of institutional inertia and what Stephen M. Walt has called the “full-employment strategy” of the interventionist American foreign policy establishment."
Allow me to offer a somewhat different explanation for this seeming incongruity. It involves making a conceptual distinction between two overlapping but at times orthogonally interested entities: the US Republic and the American Empire.
The former represents the interests of the median citizen of the US. The latter represents the interests of the average American. The median American earns $50k a year, never or rarely leaves the territory of the United States. His interests would be better served by less trade, closed borders and a smaller, less militarised federal government that engaged in few if any overseas adventures. He would like the US military to be regeared towards defense of US territories and interests narrowly defined. A simplified tax system that taxes all income and retained earnings on a simple scale with few if any exemptions.
The latter, the Empire, represents the interest not just of an average American on $80k a year, but in fact it also has constituents in the upper classes of its vassal states in Europe and its international community that spans the globe (with some notable black spots of course). This Empire is reliant on international trade, global patent protection and financial flows that cross borders and tax jurisdictions with ease. It depends on trade, and deploys a vast network of military bases across the globe to defend that trade. It is aligned with the interests of large corporations and run by a managerial class that is captured by the corporations it is supposed to regulate. It wants ever more military spending, and it is indifferent to the fate of US citizens whose interests are challenged by mass migration.
In short, the US republic does not want NATO; the American Empire considers NATO its own.
Trump said he would defund the WHO, and he did. We desperately need him back in office before our country is completely ruined!
"Trump insanity: a former US president invites Russia to attack its allies …"
Actual insanity - O'Biden did attack it's European allies. See Nord Stream......
'States that do not pay what Trump wants, he said, “are fair game. This primarily refers to us Germans.”'
What Trump wants, or what they are obligated to pay under the treaty?
Naturally, Germans are not the only ones having a butthurt. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said that Trump’s statements “undermine all of our security.”
None more so than Stoltenbergs's own job security.
Without NATO's fat salary and no heavy lifting, Jens might have to one day grow up and find a real job.
With Germany already in the economic doldrums, it would probably bankrupt them if it had to pay its fair share.
Had Germany stayed neutral or had Angela M followed the Minsk Agreement, non of this would be an issue, the Nord Stream pipeline would still be intact and Germany's economy would be humming along.
It's a weird world when Trump says not to rely too much on Russian oil, and Europe laughs at him -- but when he says they better pay their 'fair share' in defense and they freak out like Trump declared war on the Eurozone.
The obvious question is why these Euroatlantists are not spending 2% of GDP as they commited. No presstitute will ask the question either.
Thanks for this, I always value the inside track on the German view of things.
This strikes me as further proof that the German political establishment’s principal role is to justify and support American hegemony in Europe.
Germany, based on your recent posts, seems an extreme case, albeit the same idiocy on a milder scale is found in the UK (and, interestingly, Ireland which is ludicrously supposed to be neutral).
I expect Trump to achieve nothing. I expect the AfD to achieve nothing, nor Farage, Le Pen, etc.
We are living through the collapse of the American Empire. Its motive power, in the form of desirable new consumer products, has died, and is being sustained now only by parasitical and destructive measures like the green agenda. Its liberating mission, in the form of the sexual revolution, has been an unmitigated disaster whose real-world effects have rendered the Empire’s population weak, unable to reproduce itself, and addicted to pleasure. Its political manoeuvres have finally failed, avoiding real redistribution of wealth post-2008 only to hand the keys to power to lunatics with an agenda which guarantees failure and incompetence.
This will inevitably end in the failure of the regime. I no longer believe there is much we can do about it. There is much of historical interest in what is going on, and the future is unusually uncertain.
I hope and pray we avoid the worst outcome on the road to something new and, God willing, better.
Germans are out of control. We want Trump exactly because he’s telling everyone the gravy train is over. The American tax payer is not responsible for Germany’s security…the Germans are.
If they don’t pay the 2% of GDP everyone agreed to then you don’t get protected. Europeans need to understand that Trump supporters have had enough.
Another excellent piece, 'gyp, and your first point is number one for a reason. Combine this with another wrinkle from the American perspective, and it's apparent what the tension is here. Americans see Europeans enjoying "free" healthcare, pensions, six weeks off every summer, etc. None of that is what they enjoy. How is this possible? Because the USA subsidises all of it by footing the bill for Europe's military defenses, so the euros stay in-country on the societal goodies. The spotlight of all those billions flooding from US taxpayers (read: the Fed printing press) into Ukraine has really drawn Americans' focus on the need to prop up our own infrastructure and society, and where all those dollars might better be spent. Interesting times, but one thing remains constant: Trump and Putin are EVIL!
All the American regime stooges are losing their minds over Trump's comment, and of course it's all in complete bad faith. As they so often do, the press-titutes take Trump's words literally, like they were typed in a policy document, and ignore the obvious bluster and hyperbole of his delivery and the context of the remark.
The press storyline in the US is, without any shame for their chicanery, "Trump says he will let Putin conquer Europe" and words to that effect. It's embarassing.
many excellent points here, but also we should consider that given recent German leadership the German people would actually benefit from Russian rule.
Someone suggested allowing Russia into NATO. Well, that would mean that NATO would no longer be needed. See how this silly problem is easily solved.
Apparently nobody understands hyperbole or humor anymore.
“Germany's status in arrears of its treaty obligations proves once again how unpredictable, unscrupulous and unreliable Germany's government is.”
There, that's better.