Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "Geopolitics AD 2024: Why Is The World In Chaos?" video.
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A world where the US isolates its self would force EU countries to combine their military powers together, in other words, they would likely be forced to take that role, which they've got the economy, manufacturing capabilities, skill set to do it but lack of need to do it, but the US isolating its self would be a massive incentive for Europeans in the EU to get their act together, after all, political will and direction changes on world events, just like the EU came about after the second world war.
But in truth, the US won't isolate its self for one simply reason, political and economic benefits to the US, the US isolating its self would actually hurt US political and economic interest, after all, the US doesn't have all these army bases around the world out of the goodness of their heart.
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@dominuslogik484 That's not quite true, the real problem in the EU is that you've got 27 separate militaries doing their own thing, that creates a lot of waste, if combined and reduce a lot of the waste and duplications, the EU has more than enough of a military to prevent any threat to it, it is after all a modern economy with a high skilled workforce and military tech, with a strong manufacturing base, if threatened, the resources they could throw at the military would be far higher than it is now, just for now, it's not that important.
Those pet projects, if you mean the social programs, calling them a waste of money is crazy, very few Europeans would agree with that and even many Americans wouldn't agree with at view, the real problem isn't the military budget, the problem is having 27 divided militaries with so much waste, a single military, whiles reducing a lot of the duplications would be a far more effective military even with the current budget.
So come on guys, let's get back to reality, Putin is taking on an easy target with Ukraine, one of the poorest European countries that isn't in the EU or NATO, they were an easy target, taking on an EU or NATO member as most EU members are, Putin would have to be insane to do that because that could escalate into a major war, which if history is any indicator, will drag in a lot more countries, whether they want to be in or not, which if that were to happen, we've all got problems.
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EU countries have a modern military, do they spend enough? Probably not but the real issue in the EU isn't the budget or the military, it's the division of having 27 different militaries pulling in all directions, whiles having a lot of waste and duplications.
Considering the EU countries are a modern, high-tech, high skilled economy with a lot of manufacturing capability, it would take much for them to throw a lot more resources into the military if threatened, but the simple truth is, Russia isn't a threat to the EU or its members and like history has shown, things can change fast if need be, so Americans really need to stop worrying about Europeans in the EU, because we Europeans are not worried about Russia, we've got other things to worry about.
But seriously, Putin is having a nightmare in Ukraine, which is one of the poorest countries in Europe, eastern EU country which are poorer than western ones would be a nightmare for Putin, in the end, Putin isn't an idiot, he picked an easy target with Ukraine, one of the poorest in Europe, not an EU or NATO member and this is the result, but if Putin were to take on an EU or NATO member, which most members in the EU are also NATO members, it would be a disaster for Russia.
If a threat were to happen to any EU country, the resources are there to mobilise rapidly.
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You're a member of both the EU and NATO, Putin might be an idiot for starting the war in Ukraine, but he would have to be insane to take on an EU or NATO country.
We should remember that Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in Europe, it's also not an EU or NATO member, they also have a lot of natural resources, basically, they were an easy target, that isn't the case for any EU or NATO member, even small ones, basically, if it's an EU country that's invaded, the EU and its members would have to intervene directly, same for a NATO member, if they don't intervene, it would undermine both organisations and could even lead to disbanding them, and in the case of the EU, there's too much political and economic interest in keeping the project working for its members, but NATO, well that's an unknown, we only have the promise that an attack on one is an attack on all, will other NATO members come to the aid of another? Who knows, one thing I do know, there's far less holding NATO members together unlike what's holding EU members together.
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To be fair, in aid money, both the EU and its members and the US have given roughly around the same amount of money, the EU more towards humanitarian aid whereas the US towards military aid, is it enough? Not really from both side and both side can afford to help in many ways and should be doing so sooner rather than later.
But we also should remember that the EU is a complicated beast, getting 27 countries to pass things when each member has a veto is no easy task, hence why the EU and it's members are having to find loopholes to move things along because of a few stubborn members.
As for the US, they want to be world leaders, it's up to them to step up to the plate and lead, which just like we are seeing in the EU, there's a lot of infighting going on in the US with the Democrats and Republicans.
As for the threat, Russia is no threat to EU members, Russia is having a hard time dealing with Ukraine which is one of the poorest countries in Europe, Russia would be crazy to take on an EU country because most are in NATO for one and two, just like NATO, there's a defence clause in the EU that an attack on one is an attack on all, in other words, it would force the EU and NATO if it's a NATO member that's attacked to get involved more directly, that's the last thing Putin wants with the military might the EU countries could bring to the table if threatened, just for now, they are not threatened, so we see a lot of horse-trading just like we are seeing in the US.
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I get the impression, at least from the US that they want the war in Ukraine to drag on to bleed Russia of its resources to hurt its economy, which happens on two fronts, man power and economic resources Russia is having to throw into the war effort.
Both the EU and US are more than capable of supplying the arms needed to Ukraine to end this war far sooner than it's likely going to be and really, both the EU and US needs to get their act together because things are getting unstable around the world, it's going to be costly for both the EU and US having to deal with the conflict in Ukraine whiles other wars are braking out and I know some will say we won't intervene but things are braking out in a lot of regions around the world that if we are not careful, things could escalate that it forces us into the war.
If there is ever a time where we need strong leadership from the EU and US, it's now, because I suspect a lot of these wars are braking out because of poor leadership from the powers that have the clout to do something about it, and I'm wondering, how far are we going to let things escalate before we put our foot down, basically, nip these things in the bud before it gets out of hand, which we are seeing early signs of that now.
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