I want to paint a picture of what type of "ally" the US is in normal circumstances, from a Dutch perspective. A superpower versus a speckle of a country.<p>The growth of our biggest airport had to be capped for various reasons. That means less landing rights. So we go airline by airline and inform them they can land 5% less. They were all frustrated but understood the pain had to be shared.<p>Not for the US though. Mere hours after the first American airline was informed, Biden's Washington was on the line: cap any landing rights of any American airline and no Dutch plane will ever land on US soil again.<p>Similar: repeated visits of US representatives coming to tell us exactly which ASML machine can be exported to where and expecting immediate compliance. Even if you agree with the reasons, the arrogance is striking as is the neglect in considering the costs to the business.<p>We host the international court of justice. But the US doesn't care, it doesn't acknowledge it.<p>The point of all these examples is that the US treats allies like shit even before Trump. There's no regard at all for the other side, it's power-play and dominance and rules not applying to the US.<p>The relationship doesn't persist out of friendship, mutual respect or "shared values". It persists because in the bigger picture it is probably still economically beneficial as alternatives are worse. As the Dutch say, the difference between being bitten by a dog or a cat.<p>The US as the leader of the free world is the very opposite of that as it comes to values. It's cruel and selfish to its "friends".<p>That was the status quo and thing are obviously infinitely worse now. I wish it was different. We should move towards each other and build a Super West. America First means Europe First means Canada First and so on. Everybody suffers.
"We Are Fighting Against a Dictator Backed by a Traitor" - <a href="https://youtu.be/j51HZncBvEI" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/j51HZncBvEI</a>
[dupe] More discussion: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43266387">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43266387</a>
Watching this unfolding over the last weeks from Europe feels like a bad fever dream. The thing that scares me personally the most is not that the USA under Trump is telling Europe to care for their own security. That's expected and a talking point for many years and Europe sure did little to prepare for that.<p>What's scaring me is it sure looks like the USA is in a process of self-destruction that seems to result in them badly harming themselves. Any amount of soft-power over Europe is gone. It sure looked like the whole of Europe is happily migrating into USA clouds and USA brands will have growing percentage in cars and other goods. A big chunk of Europe military spending was going to the USA. F35 sold like hot bread.<p>Frankly I have no rational explanations for the tariffs for Canada and Mexico, neither do the experts here on local media. More is likely to come.<p>I'd like to put the all the KGB asset conspiracy talk away but with every day and with every headline I'm scratching my head and I don't see how this benefits the USA.<p>Russia won't honour it. Actually if all is destroyed and Trump is gone I expect some final humiliation from Putin. I just don't see how aligning with Russia is of longterm strategic interest to the USA. But maybe I'm missing something?
Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence therefore it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations & collisions of her friendships, or enmities.<p>Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, Rivalship, Interest, Humour or Caprice?