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submitted 1 year ago by yogthos@lemmy.ml to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

The report is absolutely scathing. Some choice quotes:

But when the next crisis came, both the US and the governments of Europe fell back on old models of alliance leadership. Europe, as EU high representative for foreign affairs Josep Borrell loudly lamented prior to Russia’s invasion, is not really at the table when it comes to dealing with the Russia-Ukraine crisis. It has instead embarked on a process of vassalisation.

But “alone” had a very specific meaning for Scholz. He was unwilling to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine unless the US also sent its own main battle tank, the M1 Abrams. It was not enough that other partners would send tanks or that the US might send other weapons. Like a scared child in a room full of strangers, Germany felt alone if Uncle Sam was not holding its hand.

Europeans’ lack of agency in the Russia-Ukraine crisis stems from this growing power imbalance in the Western alliance. Under the Biden administration, the US has become ever more willing to exercise this growing influence.

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[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago

From another angle Germany twisted the US’ arm until they did what we wanted them to do. Atlanticism in Germany is right-wing, the SPD certainly has its faults but worshipping the US is not one of them.

The top EU think tank very clearly disagrees with you here. It's also pretty clear that Germany ended up being the big loser here given that it's now in a recession. So, I guess if that's what Germany wanted then it certainly did a brilliant job twisting US' arm to destroy German industry. Given that this has been the stated goal of US for years now, I don't think much twisting required here.

Against who? Aliens?

Europe wouldn't have anyone to defend itself against if it didn't keep creating enemies for itself. It was entirely possible to dismantle NATO after USSR collapsed and integrate Russia into Europe as an equal. Instead, Europe chose to have an antagonistic relationship with Russia, and now Europe finds itself in a protection racket situation.

Finally, the idea that Europe could fight US or Russia in an all out war is completely delusional. Europe lacks the industrial base to do this kind of warfare, and it also lacks access to energy. Meanwhile, if we're talking about nukes both US and Russia have literally an order of magnitude more nukes than all of Europe combined.

[-] FluffyPotato@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago

Nothing can fight the US, it's like the richest country and half the budget goes to the military. Russia would not be much of a threat though, especially now. Also the only country dependant on Russia was Germany and now that isn't the case so I'm not sure what you mean by "lacks access to energy".

[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 year ago
[-] barsoap@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago

So, I guess if that’s what Germany wanted then it certainly did a brilliant job twisting US’ arm to destroy German industry.

The fuck have Abrams anything to do with Germany's industry? How is that in any way connected? Are you simply making up slogans?

Instead, Europe chose to have an antagonistic relationship with Russia

Oh my fucking sides. Заткнись ватник блядь.

[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 year ago

The fuck have Abrams anything to do with Germany’s industry? How is that in any way connected? Are you simply making up slogans?

I'm talking about the result of Germany being cut off from cheap energy and US blowing up German pipelines without Germany making any protest. Meanwhile, haven't seen any Abrams anywhere close to Ukraine, but plenty of Leopards burning there now.

Oh my fucking sides. Заткнись ватник блядь.

I see you have difficulties engaging with reality.

[-] barsoap@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago
[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 year ago

I mean yeah, when a bunch of industry shuts down and your country goes into a recession, demand for gas drops which leads to lower prices. 😂

[-] barsoap@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago

Yeah, sure. Consumption totally plummeted. Nothing is running any more, BASF Ludwigshafen is an industrial ruin. In case you didn't notice our industry didn't shut down, big consumers -- like BASF -- switched to alternative sources and now are kinda biting themselves in the ass because they're paying more, now that gas prices are low again.

That makes things more expensive right now. In addition the ECB continues to set quite high interest rates to battle inflation, both together stifle internal consumption, people are eating less Aspargus. And we're talking about what 0.2% reduction over the whole of 2023, 2014 is projected to have an increase of 1.5%. Both Ifo and DIW agree on that one. The trend for the rest of the year is already positive, the projected -0.2% means that we won't be able to completely make up for the bad start of the year by the end of the year.

Also, this "Germany is in a recession" talk is technical. The usual definition of "two years of negative growth" is barely met, and usually doesn't include your neighbour two doors down the street shooting themselves in the head, causing a scene. (One door if you count Kaliningrad, I know).

[-] yogthos@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You're right, everything is going great. We'll just see where you are by next year.

this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
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