countries I have in mind are most of the EU, east Asian and south American multiparty democracies, our neighbors Canada and Mexico.

As I see it, these countries share with the US more than with other countries, like African, central Asian or south Asian countries, where liberal democracy and its practice only exists on paper. Up to now, we shared common values like the rule of law, free markets, freedom of the press, political liberalism, atlanticism for our security, our trust in science, institutions and facts… The US was an ally, an indispensable one you might add, even a benign one in some circles.

Now this ally has turned to a bully in an incredibly short period of time: in less than a week trump has started bullying Denmark so they sell Greenland to the US, threatened about taking the Panama channel back, also threatened most of America’s trade partners with tariffs if they don’t do what he wants, pausing aid to Ukraine, in effect condemning that country to be absorbed by Russia within the next 2 years, he even wants an American flag on Mars… what for?

I don’t see why he thinks our trade partners wont also raise their tariffs to our stuff if we do so. What I also don’t understand is why he blames the victim (Ukraine) and cozies up to putin. Not even Reagan would have done something like that.

Autocrats in the world are sure having a good time watching our disunity work to their favor.

I wonder what’s going to replace the post WW2 and post cold war order, now that liberal democracy is being so successfully attacked from the maga right and people trust more what they read on their ecochamber than what centrist, established media report (I’m not saying that the Washington Post, NPR or the LA Times are neutral, but are more neutral that fox ‘news’ or 'news’max).

  • ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    8 days ago

    We go golfing and he wins. Then we make a business deal and he wins again. The press takes pictures and he looks like a huge successful winner. Then I go back to doing my job.

  • TootSweet@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    The U.S. has always been bullies, fundamentalists, militant, entitled. All the things you don’t want in an ally. Yes, the U.S. is worse now. (I’m American, by the way.) But I hope U.S. allies have kindof seen this coming and made arrangements to weather this sort of thing, even if it lasts forever. Myabe that was kindof the point of the E.U., for instance.

    The U.S. isn’t the only country going off the rails, though. Think of Brexit, for instance. I’m not saying the U.K. government is anywhere near as… quite frankly openly fascist as the U.S.'s is right now, but at least the U.K. isn’t immune. Unfortunately no country is.

  • radix@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    It’s probably a good thing I’m not a national leader because the first thing I’d do is recall all diplomats and cut off relations. He wants isolationism? Give it to him and let him feel it for real, not just his tough-guy head-canon version of it.

    Use whatever human rights violation justifications necessary (shouldn’t be hard) to hit the US in the wallet. Cut off US businesses from customers abroad. Expel military personnel. Pull travel visas. All the tricks America uses against everyone else. Make the people feel the inconvenience of not being a world citizen.

  • snooggums@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    What I also don’t understand is why he blames the victim (Ukraine) and cozies up to putin. Not even Reagan would have done something like that.

    Reagan just blamed domestic victims of systemic racism and bigotry like black and gay people, not other countries!

  • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
    0·
    8 days ago

    It’s simple, play the field. When the US fucks with you, turn to China, when China fucks with you, turn to the US.

    This a major reason why the US has been losing ground to China, because “The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems countries will slip through your fingers.” Countries that used to deal with us exclusively are now dealing with both, countries that used to deal with both are moving in their direction. Every time the US launches an invasion or imposes sanctions or seizes foreign assets, non-aligned countries wonder if they’ll be next. Trump isn’t really a unique threat in that regard.

  • froh42@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 days ago

    Over here?

    • Create a common EU army
    • Put EU defense bases on Greenland
    • Invite Canada to become a EU member
    • Build an anti-immigrant wall on the EU-USA border and make the Americans pay for it