Later today, President Trump is scheduled to speak at the World Economic Forum at Davos about housing affordability, which has no bearing on the subject for which the Forum exists and is unlikely to be the topic of Trump’s meandering stream of consciousness speech, which is more likely to touch upon the 2020 “rigged” election, Biden’s failings, and Norway’s shame in not awarding Trump the Nobel Peace Prize for the eight wars he pretends he prevented.
In contrast, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a speech yesterday that said out loud the reality in which nations of the world that once believed they were allies of the United States, and that the United States of America was a reliable friend and protector of the free world now find themselves.
@cbcnews FULL SPEECH: In his address to world and business leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Prime Minister Mark Carney reiterated Canada’s support for Greenland’s autonomy and said he doesn’t view global relationships going back to the way they were. Carney’s comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on several European countries for their resistance against his desires to annex the Arctic island. #Carney #Canada #WEF #Moment #CBCNews
The speech runs over 15 minutes. If you would prefer to read his words, a transcript can be found here.
But when we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what is offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating. This is not sovereignty. It is the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination.
In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice: to compete with each other for favour or to combine to create a third path with impact. We should not allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity, and rules will remain strong — if we choose to wield it together.
Up to now, the European Union and Canada have sought to appease Trump, hoping he would forget the day’s threats due to his notoriously short attention span and inclination to make whimsical threats that never came to pass. But he pushed the envelope too far with his persistent threats to take Greenland, the easy way or the hard way. We have treaties. Trump didn’t care. There were deals made. Trump didn’t care.
No longer is Canada willing to pretend to like the obese vulgarian to court his transitory favor. No longer are the European Union countries willing to bite their collective tongues and acquiesce to the nonsensical claims of the lying narcissist. No longer can they pretend that if they smile and nod, they can wait him out until America comes to its senses and elects a president who won’t upend the international order that’s brought us peace and prosperity since World War II. If it’s not Trump, it might be the next bombastic blowhard, be it Vance or junior, as primogeniture works.
Trump has treated our friends and allies like dirt. Trump has treated our enemies like his dearest pals. Trump has made it overwhelmingly clear that the United States of America, under him as commander-in-chief, not only is now an unreliable ally, but is likely the enemy invading from behind.
Some of us saw this coming from far off, disinclined to pretend there was method to his madness. Now, Prime Minister Carney has said the words out loud and there is no way to return to the sounds of silence. The world order has ruptured and the middle nations of the world have to deal with the terrible reality that the United States can no longer be trusted to be their friend and protector, but instead will use its economic and military power to bring them to their knees. They will not willingly drop to their knees before Trump.
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Spot on. It boggles the mind. President Trump made good decisions neutralizing Iran’s capacity to make nuclear weapons. He was able to broker a deal that secured the freedom of the Israeli hostages in Gaza. Continued economic pressure on Iran seems to be good policy that will prevent the radical leaders of that country from funding Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi’s, etc., at least for a while. And while his claims to have ended eight wars seem grossly exaggerated, he has helped negotiate cease fires that have saved lives. That is why I can’t fathom his Greenland pronouncements. He’s squandered any credibility he could have leveraged from some of his significant foreign policy successes. The only thing that comes to my mind is that the extraction of Maduro and his wife from Venezuela has only encouraged a greater recklessness of saber rattling by a wannabe tough guy. I’m half way through Walter Isaacson’s “Kissinger,” which I’m enjoying. The book can also be read as a sub biography of Richard Nixon. Isaacson on multiple occasions describes Nixons Walter Mitty “tough guy” fantasies during late night discussions with his then National Security Advisor. The many similarities to the Nixon administration are deeply troubling. And in fairness to President Nixon, even though he ordered the not so secret bombing of Cambodia and later its invasion, he had the excuse that his national security advisor and military advised him to take action against enemy outposts on the border. Nixon never threaten military force against a friendly nation belonging to NATO. Like my late mother would so often say about the first Trump term, “there is something very wrong with this man…he’s nuts.”
Great choice. Great CD.
Expect more of this. That the world has to tell us to clean our house is …. I don’t have the word.