Author Topic: Atlantic Alliance Drifting Apart?  (Read 2688 times)

guest5

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Atlantic Alliance Drifting Apart?
« on: July 10, 2020, 07:52:47 pm »
CrossTalk on Atlantic Alliance: Drifting Apart
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The Atlantic Alliance - the bedrock of the post-World War Two global security order – is slowly but surely unraveling. More and more often Washington and Brussels diverge on important foreign policy issues. Today, Europe has a choice: to defend its interests or fade into oblivion.


Merkel looks east as ties fray between Germany and U.S.
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Berlin aims to reenergize commercial links with Beijing amid the coronavirus crisis.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/07/germany-china-trade-coronavirus-us-351922

Merkel is under pressure to cut Germany's ties with China as the Hong Kong crisis triggers a European backlash against Beijing
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Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has come under heavy criticism from her own party and opposition politicians who say she is not taking a tough enough line on China.
https://www.businessinsider.com/german-chancellor-angela-merkel-accused-too-close-to-china-2020-7

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guest5

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Re: Atlantic Alliance Drifting Apart?
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2020, 07:56:19 pm »
What exactly is the West 'winning'?
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Transatlantic relations are not what they were. Neither is the relationship between France and Germany. European leaders are concerned by U.S. president Donald Trump's America First policy. They've differed with him in several areas, from Iran to China. This was reflected during the annual Munich Security Conference. Divisions arose between leaders as they discussed whether the West is losing influence -- to other global powers. The answer from the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, was 'everything is just fine'. Pompeo boasted the 'West is winning' and the transatlantic alliance is not dead. He rejected remarks by Germany's President who warned that the United States is putting its own interests first, at the expense of its allies. But is the U.S. stance on global politics really that positive for western powers? Or is it undermining their alliance?


The West is Winning: Secretary Pompeo Remarks at the Munich Security Conference


guest5

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Re: Atlantic Alliance Drifting Apart?
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2020, 08:11:08 pm »
German Chancellor Merkel urges European countries to cooperate with China
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been pushing for a major investment agreement with China. She is urging other European countries to make this a priority and achieve "ambitious" deals with China.

90sRetroFan

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Re: Atlantic Alliance Drifting Apart?
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2020, 11:21:45 pm »
https://us.yahoo.com/news/german-states-appeal-u-congress-171345550.html

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BERLIN (Reuters) - The premiers of four German states have appealed to members of the U.S. Congress to block plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Germany, according to letters seen by Reuters on Sunday.

President Donald Trump said last month he would cut the number of U.S. troops in Germany by 9,500 to 25,000, faulting the fellow NATO member for failing to meet the North Atlantic alliance's defence spending target and accusing it of taking advantage of America on trade.

The prime ministers of the four southern states, all home to U.S. bases, addressed the letters to 13 members of Congress including senators Mitt Romney and Jim Inhofe.

"We therefore ask you to support us as we strive not to sever the bond of friendship but to strengthen it, and to secure the U.S. presence in Germany and Europe in the future," wrote the premiers of Bavaria, Hesse, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate.

A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Berlin declined to comment. Last month, Washington said the move would "enhance Russian deterrence, strengthen NATO, reassure Allies".

But the premiers wrote that the U.S. forces in their states "form the backbone of the U.S. presence in Europe and NATO's ability to act".

I support this. Germany should show that closer ties with China does not necessarily imply distancing from the US. Ultimately, this could pull China and the US closer together.

90sRetroFan

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Re: Atlantic Alliance Drifting Apart?
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2020, 04:15:33 am »
At least Germany still has some standards:

https://us.yahoo.com/news/germany-rejects-trumps-proposal-let-220412360.html

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BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany has rejected a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the Group of Seven (G7) most advanced economies, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview published on Monday.

Trump raised the prospect last month of expanding the G7 to again include Russia, which had been expelled in 2014 following Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

But Maas told Rheinische Post that he did not see any chance for allowing Russia back into the G7 as long as there was no meaningful progress in solving the conflict in Crimea as well as in eastern Ukraine.

Russia itself could make the biggest contribution to becoming part of the G7 format again by contributing to a peaceful solution in the Ukraine conflict, Maas said.

With that said, why should we want Russia back in at all? Letting Russia back in just increases its influence which will then be used to further break apart the alliances between other countries as per the Duginist plan. The correct discussion to have should be about which country could replace Russia in the group.


guest5

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Germany
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2020, 06:59:09 pm »
Trump approves plan to withdraw 9,500 U.S. forces from Germany
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President Donald Trump has selected an option for withdrawing U.S. military personnel from Germany and redeploying those forces elsewhere, the Pentagon announced Tuesday night.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/30/trump-approves-plan-to-withdraw-9500-us-forces-from-germany.html


guest5

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Re: Germany
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2020, 07:01:22 pm »
US Sanctions against Germany: How Dangerous Is Nord Stream 2?
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The US is threatening Germany with crushing sanctions if it continues with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. How bad are relations between the two sides?


At this rate pretty soon the only "country" that won't have U.S. sanctions against it will be Israel. Brilliant strategy!  ;D

FuckDugin

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Re: Germany
« Reply #7 on: August 19, 2020, 06:15:20 pm »
US Sanctions against Germany: How Dangerous Is Nord Stream 2?

Actually, Germany deserves much worse than just sanctions for its constant cozying up to Russia. Besides the obvious, namely all the ways that Russia benefits from Nord Stream directly, as well as how it validates Russian expansionism, Germany, being one of the initiators of the Normandy Format, is squandering its credibility vis-á-vis Ukraine, which is disastrous in two ways:

(1) Ukraine, if backed accordingly by the non-rightist EU- and NATO-members, could be useful not only as a bulwark against Russia, but also as a base from which to launch operations against the V4, two of whose members (Poland and Hungary) are historically its sworn enemies no less than Russia, with the remaining two members (Czechia and Slovakia) having at least a history of occupying Ukrainian land (namely Transcarpathia, as Czechoslovakia during the interwar period), as well as fighting Ukrainian anti-communist guerillas in the aftermath of WW2. However, if Ukraine is left high and dry, it will sooner or later fall under the influence of Poland, the only larger country in the area with a consistent anti-Russian foreign policy, thus more or less putting its manpower, economic potential and military strength at the V4's disposal. Given the pressure Ukraine is under to find allies against Russia, this scenario doesn't even require a prior right-wing shift in Ukrainian politics.

(2) Ukraine falling under the influence of Poland and the V4 could very well pave the way for a V4-Russia-merger, given that all geopolitical obstacles separating these two centers of Turanism have been removed, thus completing Dugin's vision of a Russia-dominated Turanian empire. This is actually a pattern that has repeated itself a couple of times throughout history: Poland and Russia compete for influence over Ukraine, Poland and Russia partition Ukraine between themselves, Russia eventually swallows Poland, either by force (the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) or consensual (communist Poland acceding to the Warsaw Pact). Russia needs Ukraine as a stepping stone to expand westward and the most convenient way to get this stepping stone is in conjunction with Poland/V4. Germany and the rest of the EU and NATO could prevent this by throwing all their weight behind Ukraine, but alas, this is not what's happening.
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Penny For Your Thoughts

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Re: Lebanon
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2020, 02:21:39 pm »
Apparently Macron wants to talk to Hezbollah and has practically shown Aoun the finger, while Aoun wants to break the alliance with Hezbollah and walk the treasonous trail the UAE blazed just to save his ass.

http://thesaker.is/the-hezbollah-france-twist/

This is a rather strange development as Macron still parrots the "Iran and Hezbollah are bad" line, but he does put a helpful policy forward nonetheless.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/08/08/Macron-told-Trump-that-US-sanctions-on-Lebanese-groups-counterproductive-Official
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guest5

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Re: Iran
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2020, 08:17:13 pm »
European countries oppose US sanctions move on Iran, deepening rift at UN
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The United States formally began the process Thursday of activating a controversial mechanism aimed at reimposing sanctions on Iran, a move that was immediately rejected by European allies fighting to save the Iranian nuclear deal.

guest5

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Re: Atlantic Alliance Drifting Apart?
« Reply #10 on: November 18, 2020, 06:09:13 pm »
Irish Foreign Minister Says President-Elect Joe Biden Could Reset Transatlantic Relations
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NBC News' Bill Neely speaks to Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney about how President-elect Joe Biden could reset transatlantic relations.

guest5

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Re: Atlantic Alliance Drifting Apart?
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2020, 08:59:23 pm »
US Congress to halt Trump’s troop withdrawal from Germany
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Lawmakers in the US Congress are preparing to block President Donald Trump's order to withdraw US troops from Germany. It's a rare instance of the Democratic and Republican parties working together to pass legislation.   
The final version of the annual defense bill, which still needs to be voted on, voices support for the continued presence of US forces in Germany. And it would require an impact assessment before any troops are removed. In July, the Pentagon announced it would withdraw about a third of the 36,000 US troops based here.

Dazhbog

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Re: Germany
« Reply #12 on: January 09, 2021, 06:08:49 pm »
...but alas, this is not what's happening.

Instead, we are getting more of this Nord Stream 2 bullshit.

https://www.unian.info/economics/fund-set-up-in-germany-to-support-nord-stream-2-completion-11279210.html

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The Mecklenburg-West Pomerania government has approved the creation of the Mecklenburg Climate Protection Fund whose main objective is to help complete the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline by bypassing U.S. sanctions.

"The government is creating a fund that supports and promotes climate action in the state through a wide range of organizations and institutions, as well as civil society activists, and at the same time can contribute to the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project."

I also can't get over how they linked Nord Stream 2, a project all about fossil fuel from Russia, with climate protection.

If you ever doubted the horrifying effectiveness of the Allied 'denazification'-campaign, consider that Germany moved from this:



...to this:



...in less than a century.
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guest5

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Re: Atlantic Alliance Drifting Apart?
« Reply #13 on: February 04, 2021, 10:20:38 pm »
Biden Halts Trump's Troop Withdrawals From Germany
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President Joe Biden announced he’s halting and reversing Trump administration foreign policy initiatives -- including troop drawdowns in Germany and support for a Saudi-led offensive in Yemen that turned into a humanitarian disaster -- as he sought to boost morale at the State Department.

Biden said Thursday that he’s ordering a full Pentagon review of the U.S. military posture worldwide. That includes freezing former President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw about 9,500 soldiers from Germany -- a move that stunned European allies and generated bipartisan protest in Congress.

Biden’s vision for foreign policy stands in stark contrast to Trump’s “America First” approach in which the former president often shunned alliances and resisted acting against adversarial moves taken by Russia and other countries.

“America is back,” Biden said in a speech at the State Department, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Diplomacy is back.”

Biden described U.S. alliances as “our greatest asset,” and said the U.S. will take a firm stand in dealing with China and Russia. He called on Russia to free democracy activist Alexey Navalny, whose arrest has sparked protests.

The president said that he will raise the cap on refugee admittance in the next fiscal year to 125,000 -- more than eight times the 15,000-person limit Trump implemented during his last year in office. Biden’s number is also an increase from the 110,000-person cap that former President Barack Obama implemented at the end of his administration.

Even with the administration’s changes, would-be refugees will face a long road to resettlement. Trump’s move to substantially reduce admissions has created a years-long backlog of people seeking safe harbor. And Trump implemented new, harsher vetting processes, narrower eligibility requirements, and budget cuts that increased the burden on federal agencies as they evaluate potential candidates to grant entry.

guest5

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Re: China and United States Relations
« Reply #14 on: February 06, 2021, 05:16:14 pm »
Macron: EU shouldn't work with U.S. to go against China
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The European Union shouldn't work with the #U​.S. to go against #China​, said French President Emmanuel #Macron​ during a discussion broadcast by Washington-based think tank the Atlantic Council on February 4.