As America Steps Back, Others Step In

4 comments

1. Jeff Flake: “Recently, while in Geneva, I sat down with the ambassador of a closely allied country. In the shadow of the Palais des Nations—the European home of the United Nations—we discussed the state of multilateral diplomacy. At one point, he offered a blunt assessment of America’s diminished presence on the world stage. ‘It used to be,’ he said, ‘that before we committed to a position on any significant matter, we would wait to see where the United States stood. Now? We really don’t care anymore.’

   “The remark was particularly jarring because it was intended not as an insult, but as a sincere lament. It underscored that in capitals and conference rooms across the globe, decisions are now being made without American leadership. And while many Americans might think that shift doesn’t matter, it does.

   “In places like Geneva, decisions are made every week that affect our lives at home, relating to global aviation-safety protocols; pandemic-response standards; food and drug regulation; international trade and customs frameworks; cybersecurity norms; rules governing space, telecommunications standards, environmental safeguards. These aren’t distant, abstract concerns. They influence the price of the goods on our shelves, the safety of our airways, the health of our communities, and the competitiveness of our businesses.

   “When the United States pulls back or fails to engage, these decisions don’t cease to be made. They’re simply made by others—and, more and more, by those whose values don’t align with ours. China, in particular, is adept at filling vacuums we leave behind, not just with economic leverage, but with bureaucratic muscle and long-term strategic intent. Where we disengage, the Chinese organize. Where we hesitate, they solidify influence. That same diplomat who noted America’s increasing irrelevance pointed to China’s stepped-up engagement in precisely these areas—and its eagerness to shape the rules that govern everything from trade to emerging technologies.

   “The consequences are not temporary. International standards and agreements, once set, can take years—even decades—to be renegotiated. The absence of American leadership today could mean being bound tomorrow by rules we had no hand in setting.”

   Read more: [https://theatln.tc/eKXF3rdq](https://theatln.tc/eKXF3rdq) 

2. This might be stating the obvious, but there is a non-negligible amount of Americans who did believe for some reason that the world’s systems would fall apart without the USA participating in them, or that everything could be resolved by brute force. Hubris characteristic of late stage empires.

   The issue is people who believed that got elected, a warning about the danger of having one’s country’s own leaders believe their own propaganda.

3. Again, Europe is all talk.

   US will never pull all of its resources back because we have strategic military interests in all parts of Europe.

   I say this every time someone from Germany or Poland or UK or wherever else makes a statement, along the lines of, “We will need to step up, and invest more in our country and our people, and we’ll do it without the help of anyone”.

   So do it lol. At least increase your military spending to the 2% GDP NATO target, from the 1.5% avg in 2024, an entire 0.2% increase from 2023, in the middle of a war that you claim threatens your existence and you won’t even increase to the minimum in the guidelines!

   The NATO 2% GDP guideline to dedicate at least 2% of GDP to defense spending was agreed upon in 2014. But the guideline was formed in 2006!

   Hypocrites!

   Do the thing you said you’ll do then for the last 10 years and quit talking!

4. Trump campaigned on isolationism and on playing the bully on the world stage

   For now, it’s not working, countries are not coming to beg and the US is losing leverage as it burns bridges

   China and the EU are geopolitically the ones who could have the most to gain from it, but only time will tell

Comments are closed.