What Other Nations Think About Our Elections

[What Would Jesus Do?]

European leaders live in dread of a potential Trump-led American undermining of NATO, trying desperately to Trump-proof Europe against such an unfortunate eventuality by developing an E.U.-wide defense industrial strategy and considering whether to appoint an E.U. defense commissioner.

A second term for Mr. Biden poses its own security risks, as it’s unclear whether he has the stamina to lead in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world.

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www.nytimes.com

 

[Finance85]

European leaders live in dread of a potential Trump-led American undermining of NATO, trying desperately to Trump-proof Europe against such an unfortunate eventuality by developing an E.U.-wide defense industrial strategy and considering whether to appoint an E.U. defense commissioner.

A second term for Mr. Biden poses its own security risks, as it’s unclear whether he has the stamina to lead in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world.

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www.nytimes.com

Yup, NATO and the EU certainly would have a dilemma on that. Trump pushes them into a corner on funding of NATO, yet if Biden is too soft and a major conflict breaks out, the economic price could get even steeper.

 

[bhawk24bob]

I had a professor in law school that was one of the authors of the Maastricht Treaty. Bright guy but an ideologue that assured us that one of the pillars of the EU would ensure a communal defense that would eventually be developed. It sounds like they've had enough time to figure this out....that Treaty was signed in the 90s

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

I had a professor in law school that was one of the authors of the Maastricht Treaty. Bright guy but an ideologue that assured us that one of the pillars of the EU would ensure a communal defense that would eventually be developed. It sounds like they've had enough time to figure this out....that Treaty was signed in the 90s

Not needed until NATO started declining, then Trump, then Ukraine.

It certainly seems plausible that the prospect of more Trump would make Europe nervous enough to finally act on their own military alliance. But they will doubtless dither.

 

[Hans81]

European leaders live in dread of a potential Trump-led American undermining of NATO, trying desperately to Trump-proof Europe against such an unfortunate eventuality by developing an E.U.-wide defense industrial strategy and considering whether to appoint an E.U. defense commissioner.

A second term for Mr. Biden poses its own security risks, as it’s unclear whether he has the stamina to lead in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world.

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www.nytimes.com

The world will be more dangerous/unstable with a weak Biden as president. The only “under-mining” of NATO that Trump did was to get other countries to pay their fair share.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

If Trump is installed in the White House again, the US government, always a questionable friend, is likely to become a clear threat to our peace, security and wellbeing. It will rip up what remains of global security and detente, environmental and human rights agreements, and international law. The age of multilateralism, flawed as it always was, would be over, and something much worse will take its place. In short, the UK and Europe will need to find the means of defending ourselves against a Trump regime and its allies. We might also need, as the lessons of the past century are unlearnt and the far right rises again, to defend ourselves against each other.

I never thought I’d argue for rearmament. But a looming Trump presidency changes everything | George Monbiot

A Putin-friendly president would pose a grave danger to Europe. Like it or not, this calls for greater defence, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

 

[ottumwan in tx]

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

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Putin often makes sense. He's a smart guy and he knows what "sense" sounds like.

Doesn't mean he really prefers Biden.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

[more from Monbiot]

...this is also a good moment for the UK government to rethink its position on nuclear weapons. It’s time to recognise that our “independent nuclear deterrent” has never been independent. Because key components are supplied and controlled by the US, we cannot operate it without US consent. So, if Trump regains the White House, it would not be a deterrent, either: Putin knows we cannot use it.​

If that's true, UK's nukes just make the UK an early target if the Ukraine war heads toward nuclear escalation.

 

[ottumwan in tx]

Putin often makes sense. He's a smart guy and he knows what "sense" sounds like.

Doesn't mean he really prefers Biden.

no, but waiting till trump is out and biden is in- before he tries to invade ukraine, that proves he likes biden

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

[Monbiot]

As Trump rips up US environmental commitments, other countries will have to redouble theirs to avoid planetary catastrophe. It will do us no economic harm to embrace 21st-century technologies while the US remains in the fossil age. All this becomes especially urgent in the UK if that gurning minion of both Trump and Putin, Nigel Farage, achieves a foothold in politics. The collaborators are already lining up to betray their country.​

I had to look up "gurning." It's a nifty word:

The English Dialect Dictionary, compiled by Joseph Wright, defines the word gurn as "to snarl as a dog; to look savage; to distort the countenance,"​