Mr Larison writes that "The U.S. should refrain from using American power to intimidate and threaten weaker states."
I have fallen into the habit of saying that these actions by the U.S. provide encouragement to various countries to join or to participate even more with BRICS+, in the sense that the more America bullies other countries, the more BRICS+ will succeed.
Instead, I offer, from "Russians with Attitude", what seems to me to be a perceptive analysis of the situation vis-a-vis America's "allies":
The piece is worth reading in its entirety. Here, as an appetizer, is an excerpt:
"America's vassals WILL have to confront this state of things and make hard decisions about their future. This means reckoning with their geopolitical impotence and either embracing dependency with open eyes or seeking pathways to autonomy that will inevitably involve risk, sacrifice, and a recalibration of their national priorities."
If Trump's goal for America is for it to “reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth,” then we seem to have the Wolfowitz doctrine in full force. Taking this into account, and given the direction BRICS+ is taking, we seem to have a new form of "great power" competition emerging, where one side relies on bullying and violence, and the other on friendly trade relationships and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. One could call this "asymetrical great power competition," although it could lead to something ugly eventually.
Perhaps we'll end up with a world divided between America and its remaining vassal states, and BRICS+ on the other side, with a sort of "cold war" separating the two. Whether America will accept that depends on how much actual power it will have retained and how realistic will be those who govern it.
However things develop, as Mr Larison writes, "There are few things more dangerous than a declining great power obsessed with reliving the glory days." The peaceful world many of us envisioned and thought possible when the Soviet Union lowered its flag for the last time may come in the distant future, but it seems not ready yet to be born.
It has long been obvious that the United States is an Evil Empire.
The last decade or so has simply been the dropping of any pretense to the contrary.
Mr Larison writes that "The U.S. should refrain from using American power to intimidate and threaten weaker states."
I have fallen into the habit of saying that these actions by the U.S. provide encouragement to various countries to join or to participate even more with BRICS+, in the sense that the more America bullies other countries, the more BRICS+ will succeed.
Instead, I offer, from "Russians with Attitude", what seems to me to be a perceptive analysis of the situation vis-a-vis America's "allies":
https://x.com/RWApodcast/status/1877120997427654660?mx=2
The piece is worth reading in its entirety. Here, as an appetizer, is an excerpt:
"America's vassals WILL have to confront this state of things and make hard decisions about their future. This means reckoning with their geopolitical impotence and either embracing dependency with open eyes or seeking pathways to autonomy that will inevitably involve risk, sacrifice, and a recalibration of their national priorities."
If Trump's goal for America is for it to “reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth,” then we seem to have the Wolfowitz doctrine in full force. Taking this into account, and given the direction BRICS+ is taking, we seem to have a new form of "great power" competition emerging, where one side relies on bullying and violence, and the other on friendly trade relationships and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. One could call this "asymetrical great power competition," although it could lead to something ugly eventually.
Perhaps we'll end up with a world divided between America and its remaining vassal states, and BRICS+ on the other side, with a sort of "cold war" separating the two. Whether America will accept that depends on how much actual power it will have retained and how realistic will be those who govern it.
However things develop, as Mr Larison writes, "There are few things more dangerous than a declining great power obsessed with reliving the glory days." The peaceful world many of us envisioned and thought possible when the Soviet Union lowered its flag for the last time may come in the distant future, but it seems not ready yet to be born.
Trumps has his head up his ass....and he likes it😳