B0ycey wrote:Knowing Trump only has two terms max at least gives me some hope for America, but then I think of the Lobbyists and that hope fades a little but anyway...
Currently, as things stand, Europe has been over reliant on America -especially in terms of defence. Today this is changing. Do you honestly believe Europe wants to side with the devil? They will continue to do the right noises to keep America happy until they are able to speak out and remove themselves from their foreign policy. Pesco is the start of good things for Europe. They are already looking East for trade. That's the next step. Then it will be making the Euro a viable alternative to the Dollar. Iran for example now trades in Euros for foreign exchange. Then it will be international diplomacy and affairs through cooperation with new partners and finally freedom. America is only a more superior partner to both Russia and China today because they have decided to make the rules up so they are. But things are changing due to how Trump has reacted to international diplomacy today (from tariffs to threats). And when they do ultimately change, they won't be a more superior partner any longer.
America are making allies turn away from them by being selfish. It's not the other way round. I for example don't hate Americans. I hate their foreign policy. And with Brexit and our government sucking up for America for trade (as they know they need to as we have decided to remove ourselves from our most viable trading partner), we will become a vessel US state and Air Strip One soon. I have been resigned in the knowledge my nation are going to slaves for the foreseeable future for a while now, but I see Europe being liberated from US imperialism nonetheless. That doesn't mean that they are going to become Russian or Chinese vessel states. A United Europe is more than capable of looking after themselves. They have the capital and military to defend themselves. They will look after their own affairs and be truly liberated. They won't need to surrender their will as they will indeed be a superpower themselves. And I have faith they won't become an imperialist nation such as America when they do.
Europe being freed from American imperialism? Don't make me laugh please. This is even worse than the somewhat cute American founding myth of their fight against British tyranny. It seems that victimhood culture is truly everywhere today.
I welcome Europe becoming more independent in terms of defence, as I suspect they will be busy in Africa in the future. And of course, once they have the military power they'll use it to back up their diplomatic efforts and economic power projection. Believing anything else is beyond naive. It's going to be incredibly hard work though, not least because not all militaries in Europe are created equal and many have a long way to go to reach British or American levels not only in terms of technology and equipment but also professionalism and ethos. So far all we've seen is grand announcements. Next, I suspect they'll create a massive bureaucracy to coordinate their efforts and squabble about the details of the implementation. After that, the actual work starts. I won't hold my breath but let's hope they make some real progress over the next few years.
Most of the developments you describe above have started long before Trump took office. This is a good showcase of motivated reasoning. Don't like Trump? Just attribute everything bad that's currently happening to him even if it was already happening before he announced his election campaign. Whatever Trump contributes to the shift towards a multi-polar world is negligible.
B0ycey wrote:Apart from creating new islands from international waters or arguing for sovereignty of islands between nations, they have yet to threaten 'fire and fury' or sent troops to illegal wars. Their international affairs are local and trade is international. Comparing them to America is stupid. If you do, you know who the true devil is. Nonetheless, America by your own admittance is playing under different rules. They don't want nations to have nuclear weapons or threaten other sovereign nations - but do just that anyway and possess nuclear weapons themselves because they can. They are hypocrites and as such are hated globally for it. And that is fair. Practice what you preach or be called upon it.
I have not compared China to America. Could you please ease off on the straw men a bit? It seems I need to tell you what I
haven't written more often than any other user. You claimed that China was not threatening or aggressive and I provided you with evidence to the contrary. Obviously, China's actions are constrained by the circumstances, such as the alliance of countries which the US is part of and which oppose its actions in the South China Sea. In the absence of this, I suspect China would be even more assertive.
B0ycey wrote:So why even bring up Reagan? His words did nothing but provoke conflict and so did Trump's. The fact that the other nations (USSR and NK) showed restraint fron such words is not evidence that aggression works. It doesn't. Diplomacy works. As shown when NK offered an olive branch to SK without having to fire a single bullet or shout out on Twitter with aggression.
I brought it up - and I think I've already explained this - because the refrain of the commentariat and sequence of events was very similar. Reagan upped his rhetoric and people went into a frenzy claiming a nuclear war was imminent. They were wrong. Rather the USSR disintegrated. Note how the confrontational tone had no negative effect, much less that anticipated by Reagan's detractors.
I'm not sure where you get your news from, but I'm baffled how you came away with the impression that NK has shown restraint, e.g.
CNN wrote:(CNN) Donald Trump sarcastically responded to North Korea's insults that described him as a "destroyer" who "begged for nuclear war" during his tour of Asia. In a statement lashing out at Trump on Saturday, North Korea also referred to him as a "dotard," a word meaning a very old person, and one the reclusive nation has used on him in the past.
Trump fired back hours later. "Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me 'old,' when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat?' Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!" Trump tweeted.
Asked about the possibility of becoming friends with the North Korean leader during a Sunday joint news conference in Vietnam, Trump did not rule it out. "Strange things happen in life. That might be a strange thing that happens. But it is certainly a possibility," Trump said. "If that did happen, it would be a good thing for, I can tell you, for North Korea. But it would also be good for lots of other places, and it would be good for the world."
[...]
Also note Trump's more conciliatory tone during a conference at the same time.
I'd have to look up how the USSR publicly responded to Reagan, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if they had verbally fired back too.