The one thing we need to be clear about is that none of this is normal. None of it is acceptable. We can’t just pretend it’s OK, and do our normal stuff. Normal diplomacy, the usual channels etc.
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It's been clear for a while now that baubles and trinkets before the child-emperor won't alter the course of history. Pandering to Trump gets you nothing.
It's the advisers, the eminences grises we should be paying attention to. Even a cursory glance shows them to be the criminals they are.
Because they are so unpredictable, diplomacy can only be reactive, it can’t be proactive.
Look at the difference for Starmer between Thursday’s narrative and Friday’s.
The only thing Trump & his administration will listen to is if a substantial number of GOP voters decide enough is enough. Unfortunately it's going to be a race between still having sufficient democracy for that to happen, & Trump subverting it & becoming a full dictator
Even if we discount the more dread conclusions, it is very clear (almost indisputable?) that Trump does not believe in allies or friendly states. Canada, Mexico, Denmark and Ukraine are testimony to that. He believes in raw power and wants clients and subjects. We need to reorient all our relations
Oh I bloody hate all the commentators sat there "this is what is happening", "this is how it will be viewed", "this is what needs to happen now", as if they have any additional insight. Other than common sense things such as divesting of US tech, and increasing defence spends... who knows, eh?
Yep, and a lot of people need to sit down and be prepared to listen. It may result in fewer substack subscribers or sell fewer opinion pieces, but God we need some more nuanced thinking.
Modern Europe should remember that it is a child of the Enlightenment. And seek to preserve and represent its values.
Trump's assault on truth is a direct affront to those values and should be resisted.
The danger is we will be on the back foot all the time reacting to events. There will be a fresh 'great television' event every day while we play catch-up.
One thing we need to accept is that at some points in time there simply aren't ways to get the results we want. Trump is not going to support Ukraine regardless of protestations.
So we need to look at how to minimise damage, create breathing space, change the problem into one that can be solved.
I think we accept that America is lost to malign forces.
The problem we are trying to solve is how we police the world and resist corrupt Governments and their warmongering when we are facing a time where USA, Russia and China are all threatening to control other nations by force.
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It's the advisers, the eminences grises we should be paying attention to. Even a cursory glance shows them to be the criminals they are.
Game over
They'll just continue trying to frame things & deal with them along "traditional" lines, as per Paul's point.
It's analogue methodology for a digital world & it's failing us.
Dangerously.
Look at the difference for Starmer between Thursday’s narrative and Friday’s.
Europe doesn’t need to accept it, but it does need to act independently to defeat Putin in Ukraine
American complained Russians let Putin takeover.
And now Americans are quiet on their own Nazi takeover.
Trump's assault on truth is a direct affront to those values and should be resisted.
So we need to look at how to minimise damage, create breathing space, change the problem into one that can be solved.
The problem we are trying to solve is how we police the world and resist corrupt Governments and their warmongering when we are facing a time where USA, Russia and China are all threatening to control other nations by force.