[late]

I don't bring a lot of Zeihan videos here. This one strikes me as better than average, and covers a lot most people don't know yet.

I enjoyed it.

[late]

Did anyone watch it?

[JohnRawls]

I don't bring a lot of Zeihan videos here. This one strikes me as better than average, and covers a lot most people don't know yet.

I enjoyed it.

Didn't watch it but Zeihan is probably going about his apocalyptic security gap if America retreats. His analysis is good but his conclusion are often hyperbolic. He is a good analyst overall.

TLDR: If US retreats in mass which it won't then even in that situation local alliances will step up. Israel and SA/UAE will step up in this case to safeguard the region even if they are not exactly best budies since they wanna thrive economically to a degree.

Same goes for Europe, Europe has no problem building more ships if needed, it is just not needed right now. Not to mention that Europe already has technically the 2nd largest fleet in the world even with being half assed about the Navy.

What I am trying to say is that security can be provided even in absence of America, at least on the Seas. On land, it is a bit more complicated though. But if Russia continues to disarm itself at this rate then the only problem will be Iran or China which are kinda far away but unrealistic to project any land power since they don't have the capability.

[Rancid]

This should be celebrated and encouraged. No one wants the US to be the world police anyway.

[JohnRawls]

This should be celebrated and encouraged. No one wants the US to be the world police anyway.

Yes and No. Shitholes don't want US to be around. Europe is perfectly okay with it since we have a deal of sorts. Some in EU and US might not like that deal but the deal has been proven by the test of time so its a good deal for both sides.

[late]

Didn't watch it

Ahh.

[late]

Sigh.

[ckaihatsu]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%8 ... y_conflict

[ness31]

Zeihan, no idea who he, but his name keeps getting spat out by my YouTube algorithm so I gave your video a go. It was visually splendid; a beautiful montage of Persian architecture etc. He’s the geopoliticist so he should know what he’s talking about I suppose…but I don’t believe the US is just going to leave the region. That’s just silly

[Potemkin]

Zeihan, no idea who he, but his name keeps getting spat out by my YouTube algorithm so I gave your video a go. It was visually splendid; a beautiful montage of Persian architecture etc. He’s the geopoliticist so he should know what he’s talking about I suppose…but I don’t believe the US is just going to leave the region. That’s just silly

That’s what happens when empires decline, @ness31 - they leave.

In 1900, the idea that the British would ever leave India was “just silly”. Now, it’s the idea that they would ever go back which is “just silly”.

[late]

Zeihan, no idea who he, but his name keeps getting spat out by my YouTube algorithm so I gave your video a go. It was visually splendid; a beautiful montage of Persian architecture etc. He’s the geopoliticist so he should know what he’s talking about I suppose…but I don’t believe the US is just going to leave the region. That’s just silly

We put Saddam Hussein into power, when he kept annoying us, we took him out. We are simply not as involved.

Zeihan likes rhetorical flourishes, you can call it exaggeration if you like. As Biden just demonstrated, it's still important, we still have military bases there, but our involvement is less... intense?

His idea is that decreasing interest in being the worlds cop will continue. No idea if that's true, but he has good reasons for thinking that way.

[ness31]

*shrug*

There’s a lot more to the Middle East than just oil. It’s biblical.

[late]

*shrug*

There’s a lot more to the Middle East than just oil. It’s biblical.

While there is more to the ME than oil, religion doesn't really play a direct role. It shows up in the strength of our support for Israel, which is one of our many mistakes, but beyond that nobody cares.

We're more Machiavelli than Sister Teresa..

[ness31]

Lol, when you say it shows up in your support for Israel, that actually encompasses the entire region

[ckaihatsu]

I don’t believe the US is just going to leave the region.

Thousands of NATO troops remained in the country to train and advise Afghan government forces[208] and continue their fight against the Taliban.[209] It was estimated in 2015 that "about 147,000 people have been killed in the Afghanistan war since 2001. More than 38,000 of those killed have been civilians".[210] A report titled Body Count concluded that 106,000–170,000 civilians had been killed as a result of the fighting in Afghanistan at the hands of all parties to the conflict.[211]

On 14 April 2021, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance had agreed to start withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan by 1 May.[212]

Western nations have suspended most humanitarian aid to Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover of the country in August 2021 and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund also halted payments.[234][235] In October 2021, more than half of Afghanistan's 39 million people faced an acute food shortage.[236] On 11 November 2021, the Human Rights Watch reported that Afghanistan was facing widespread famine due to an economic and banking crisis.[237]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan#21st_century

[ness31]

Yes, they left Afghanistan.