Without the U.S. to back them up, the UK and France aren't even capable of fielding a mildly credible deterrent in Ukraine. Their militaries were gutted to begin with and having given a bunch of gear to Ukraine they are in worse shape. It is hard to remember that 80 years ago the nations of Western Europe were fighting a global war, now they couldn't even engage in a mild scrimmage.
Ukraine is interesting because it really highlights how toothless Western Europe is, not to mention how totally deluded their leaders are about their position. It's also a demonstration of the utter incompetence of the US foreign policy establishment, which frankly has done almost nothing right this century.
There is a lot of caterwauling about the Trump Administration's re-orientation of our foreign policy and defense relationships but to me it looks very clear sighted. China is the biggest geopolitical player we will have to deal with, driving Russia further into China's arms is moronic, and American subsidy of Europe has led them into making catastrophic choices that they won't reckon with unless they feel some serious pain.
Even if it's temporary, it's nice to see a shift in U.S politics towards a more "U.S centric" outlook on things. Seems pretty self evident that a nation should care firstly about its own interests. If normalizing relationships with Russia will help the United States, then that should have primacy over helping the soon-to-be rump state that is Ukraine.
I don’t necessarily think Trump is playing chicken in the sense that he’s a pragmatist, and wants an end to the fighting and an end to the Ukraine grift. Kicking Zelensky to the curb solves everyone’s problems, except for the Eurotards and the globalists financially benefiting from the grift. Imagine thinking that Starmer and/or Macron could have any chance of “talking sense” into Trump.
The Piano Man said just yesterday that he'd be willing to resign "for the sake of peace" as long as Ukraine was allowed into NATO. That's obviously not acceptable to the Trump administration or Putin, so his next gambit will be to resign as long as Ukraine gets to enter the EU. That's probably not acceptable either to the Russians.
Sooner rather than later, he'll be offering to resign in exchange for safe passage to a tropical country and no prosecution by the United States for his part in the various Ukraine aid package frauds. If he's willing to testify against Biden officials, that might be an acceptable deal.
The main takeaway is that he's put his resignation on the table. Now we're just haggling over the price. I'll say he's gone by April at the latest.
Not a tropical country, I suspect he has some nice property already set up for him in Israel. It is nice to have your own ethnostate to flee to in order to avoid the consequences of your actions.
Really good read. It mirrors the game of chicken lead up to the war somewhat. The State Department didn’t understand the existential nature of the conflict from a Russian perspective. It’s possible the European elite view an end to the conflict as existential for their own necks. There are indications of a looming default in some European countries. It would be helpful to have someone to blame.
Trump never truly "bluffs." He makes threats, but only those that he, and everybody else, knows he is capable of following through on. He may exaggerate, puff, say outrageous things at the outset of any negotiation, but he never falls into the trap of going all in with a busted flush. He has made sure that Macron and Starmer are aware of his position, and he is giving them a stage upon which they can strut their faux gravitas and influence. But at the end of the day, it is Trump's demands that will be met, and it is Trump who will negotiate with Putin to end the hostilities. Europe will primp, parade and pose, but they will get in line because they have no other choise.
Without the U.S. to back them up, the UK and France aren't even capable of fielding a mildly credible deterrent in Ukraine. Their militaries were gutted to begin with and having given a bunch of gear to Ukraine they are in worse shape. It is hard to remember that 80 years ago the nations of Western Europe were fighting a global war, now they couldn't even engage in a mild scrimmage.
Ukraine is interesting because it really highlights how toothless Western Europe is, not to mention how totally deluded their leaders are about their position. It's also a demonstration of the utter incompetence of the US foreign policy establishment, which frankly has done almost nothing right this century.
There is a lot of caterwauling about the Trump Administration's re-orientation of our foreign policy and defense relationships but to me it looks very clear sighted. China is the biggest geopolitical player we will have to deal with, driving Russia further into China's arms is moronic, and American subsidy of Europe has led them into making catastrophic choices that they won't reckon with unless they feel some serious pain.
Even if it's temporary, it's nice to see a shift in U.S politics towards a more "U.S centric" outlook on things. Seems pretty self evident that a nation should care firstly about its own interests. If normalizing relationships with Russia will help the United States, then that should have primacy over helping the soon-to-be rump state that is Ukraine.
I don’t necessarily think Trump is playing chicken in the sense that he’s a pragmatist, and wants an end to the fighting and an end to the Ukraine grift. Kicking Zelensky to the curb solves everyone’s problems, except for the Eurotards and the globalists financially benefiting from the grift. Imagine thinking that Starmer and/or Macron could have any chance of “talking sense” into Trump.
The Piano Man said just yesterday that he'd be willing to resign "for the sake of peace" as long as Ukraine was allowed into NATO. That's obviously not acceptable to the Trump administration or Putin, so his next gambit will be to resign as long as Ukraine gets to enter the EU. That's probably not acceptable either to the Russians.
Sooner rather than later, he'll be offering to resign in exchange for safe passage to a tropical country and no prosecution by the United States for his part in the various Ukraine aid package frauds. If he's willing to testify against Biden officials, that might be an acceptable deal.
The main takeaway is that he's put his resignation on the table. Now we're just haggling over the price. I'll say he's gone by April at the latest.
Not a tropical country, I suspect he has some nice property already set up for him in Israel. It is nice to have your own ethnostate to flee to in order to avoid the consequences of your actions.
Six feet under is also an option for him . Probably the best option.
In hindsight this is a genius post!
Z, I noticed another substack takes bitcoin. Thoughts, or do you just plan to work that in-house with your planned new platform?
Really good read. It mirrors the game of chicken lead up to the war somewhat. The State Department didn’t understand the existential nature of the conflict from a Russian perspective. It’s possible the European elite view an end to the conflict as existential for their own necks. There are indications of a looming default in some European countries. It would be helpful to have someone to blame.
Trump never truly "bluffs." He makes threats, but only those that he, and everybody else, knows he is capable of following through on. He may exaggerate, puff, say outrageous things at the outset of any negotiation, but he never falls into the trap of going all in with a busted flush. He has made sure that Macron and Starmer are aware of his position, and he is giving them a stage upon which they can strut their faux gravitas and influence. But at the end of the day, it is Trump's demands that will be met, and it is Trump who will negotiate with Putin to end the hostilities. Europe will primp, parade and pose, but they will get in line because they have no other choise.