Due Process

[2dimes]

For some reason in honglaise cojones is probably pronounced wrong and is used as a euphemism for testes.

[mrswdk]

(c) Withdraw completely from all sectors while peacefully transferring control of Europe to the Russian Federation,

Ha! What a joke! The US doesn't control europe, it has been losing influence for almost two decades now. Especially now Trump threw relations with rich western europe down the drain. And Russia simply does not have the strength to control anything. They were unable to control Ukraine, what makes you think they can control an entire continent?

Like it or not, but europe is not under american control, nor is it turning to Russia. It's turning to China, if anyone. If you haven't been following EU news, the number of collaborations and approachments have been increasing vastly in the past couple of years. It's not a perfect wedding, but it is an easy one. Unlike relations with other superpowers, there is no geopolitical competition between China and europe, which enables a pure focus on business and environment.

This. The EU will always do anything to not accept russian influence over europe.... and russia has no chance of doing so, simply because it is not and will never be powerfull enough. Its natural ressources might be important but the EU will always have alternatives

I guess someone forgot to forward that memo to Germany and Austria. Italy, Greece, Belgium... etc.

Sure, Macron is really good at giving long and lingering handshakes to leaders like Trump and Putin, but those cajones are clearly being left at the door of the negotiating room.

Russia - 1
EU - 0

cajones = drawers

mrswdk's attempt at spanish word-dropping: fail

In other words, except for quibbling over spelling betiko can't find any faults in my post.

Tost, comrade!

[betiko]

I don't understand what leaving drawers at the door means mrswdk. Just sounds like you're moving furniture in your bedroom, god knows why.

[2dimes]

Also in honglaise, drawers = trousers = pants = jeans...

[betiko]

Also in honglaise, drawers = trousers = pants = jeans...

so was he refering to some sort of slumber party?

(ps: not sure what you mean. honglaise is a term used by english to describe a frenchman's failed attempt at speaking english.)

[2dimes]

Ah, I am using it to make fun of many English speakers inability to imagine a word they use as being a different word in another language.

[notyou2]

Also in honglaise, drawers = trousers = pants = jeans...

No, it means underwear

[2dimes]

Gonch.

[riskllama]

Gonch.

i had a gf from saskatoon, saskatchewan who insisted it was "gotch"...

[2dimes]

And that's the Provence next door.

[riskllama]

they call hooded sweatshirts "bunnyhugs", doncha know? bizarre place.

[notyou2]

We used to call them kangaroo shirts because of the pocket in front

[saxitoxin]

Russia and China were competitors engaged in a stand-off and border skirmishes during the 1950s and 1960s. Back then China was intimdated enough by Russia to build mazes of underground bunkers in anticipation of a possible nuclear attack on Beijing. These days there is no comparison whatsoever. The China-Russia relationship is more like the US-Mexico one than a relationship between two great powers.

By 2050 China's GDP will be nearly twice the size of America's and there will be no realistic competitor to China found anywhere in the world. There is no strategic play that would enable America to retain an equal footing with China. China has already scooped us Russia. It is in the process of scooping up the EU, Australia/NZ, Central Asia and Africa. It's ringing India with Chinese allies (Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan), and South Korea, SE Asia and the Middle East are not far off falling into step with China.

Give it a couple of decades and China will dominate. The US will have no real allies left except Japan, a nation of pacifists, and that won't matter anyway because the US will not be a great power engaged in geopolitical game playing. It will just be another EU.

Once upon a time the British Empire dominated the whole world. Then it collapsed and America surged to the fore, with Pax Brittanica giving way to Pax Americana. Well what we're all having the enormous pleasure of witnessing in our lifetimes is the collapse of Pax Americana as Pax Sinica begins.

中华民族伟大复兴！

The U.S. can't be compared to Britain. Britain had territory it could lose. The United States doesn't; all of its territory has been politically incorporated, the indigenous peoples exterminated, and the land repopulated. The Utes aren't going to seek independence for Utah, India-style, because the Utes don't exist. They've been completely wiped out. There are like 400 of them left and they're in the process of being fucked into Mormons.

And the idea that China - 23 years from now, which is far beyond the event horizon - will have nearly double the GDP of the U.S. (which is still 1/4 the per capita GDP of the U.S.), is mildly unimpressive.

That said, China is a slowly rising power and - while the U.S. could confront it - it is not in the best long-term interest of the U.S. to do so as there is no value to the U.S. of hegemony for the mere sake of hegemony. The United States should facilitate and welcome a transfer of influence to China as it will better serve the U.S. over the next 150 years. A unipolar world is inherently unstable because coalitions of lesser states inevitably form to challenge the hegemon. The U.S. should shrink into the shadows and allow China to move into the spotlight so that it becomes the magnet of this attention and the U.S. can focus on internal development. Customarily, this is not a possible path for a secondary state to pursue in a period of unipolarity, however, the United States' unique geographic position and the size of the enduring stockpile leaves it militarily invulnerable; the nature of its import-driven economy combined with resource self-resilience protects it from economic disruption.

The U.S. is uniquely positioned to forfeit global supremacy while maintaining its own security. The Clintonites were unwilling to do this as it means Europe would quickly flock to their only other option, which is the perception of safety behind a Russian firewall. But Europe has no intrinsic value to the U.S. and can be safely abandoned to Moscow. The U.S. must raise the drawbridges, pull back the legions, and return to its pre-1900 policy of voluntary isolation for the next 100-150 years. Only Trump can deliver.

[mrswdk]

The British Empire's land mass wasn't the source of its power, it was a measure of its power. The UK got its power from its military and the trade networks this military enabled it to secure. For example, it used its military to force China to open its internal market to British opium, with sale of opium to China reversing the enormous trade deficit that the UK had previously had with China. And by colonizing India it was able to dismantle India's textiles industry, which until then was the British textile industry's main competitor.

That's why the biggest milestone in the UK losing its imperial power was not Indian independence (the most land it lost in one go) but the Suez Canal Crisis (when its inability to throw its weight around internationally was laid bare).

When the US cedes global leadership to China its soft power will diminish and consequently so will its ability to secure international cooperation on international defense or on trade. America has already gleefully abandoned its leadership on free trade and climate change. China will fill this void and consequently the networks that used to be America's will become China's. As America retreats into its cave, China is buying every continent on the planet.

As you say, America is an import-driven economy. It has huge trade deficits with Europe, China, Japan etc. because it needs to buy so much of what it uses. Good luck refocusing on 'internal development' as the dollar slides, the yuan rises and America's supply of cheap everything gets choked off. Of course America could stage a massive u-turn after Trump is replaced and start chasing free trade again but... the world will already have been taken over by China.

中华民族伟大复兴！习大大万岁！

[Dukasaur]

The British Empire's land mass wasn't the source of its power, it was a measure of its power. The UK got its power from its military and the trade networks this military enabled it to secure. For example, it used its military to force China to open its internal market to British opium, with sale of opium to China reversing the enormous trade deficit that the UK had previously had with China. And by colonizing India it was able to dismantle India's textiles industry, which until then was the British textile industry's main competitor.

That's why the biggest milestone in the UK losing its imperial power was not Indian independence (the most land it lost in one go) but the Suez Canal Crisis (when its inability to throw its weight around internationally was laid bare).

When the US cedes global leadership to China its soft power will diminish and consequently so will its ability to secure international cooperation on international defense or on trade. America has already gleefully abandoned its leadership on free trade and climate change. China will fill this void and consequently the networks that used to be America's will become China's. As America retreats into its cave, China is buying every continent on the planet.

As you say, America is an import-driven economy. It has huge trade deficits with Europe, China, Japan etc. because it needs to buy so much of what it uses. Good luck refocusing on 'internal development' as the dollar slides, the yuan rises and America's supply of cheap everything gets choked off. Of course America could stage a massive u-turn after Trump is replaced and start chasing free trade again but... the world will already have been taken over by China.

I hate it whenever I agree with you, but sadly, that's a pretty fair summation.

[mrswdk]

If I had a penny for every time you, waauw and betiko have grudgingly accepted how wise I am, I'd be able to buy some candy.

[ConfederateSS]

The British Empire's land mass wasn't the source of its power, it was a measure of its power. The UK got its power from its military and the trade networks this military enabled it to secure. For example, it used its military to force China to open its internal market to British opium, with sale of opium to China reversing the enormous trade deficit that the UK had previously had with China. And by colonizing India it was able to dismantle India's textiles industry, which until then was the British textile industry's main competitor.

That's why the biggest milestone in the UK losing its imperial power was not Indian independence (the most land it lost in one go) but the Suez Canal Crisis (when its inability to throw its weight around internationally was laid bare).

When the US cedes global leadership to China its soft power will diminish and consequently so will its ability to secure international cooperation on international defense or on trade. America has already gleefully abandoned its leadership on free trade and climate change. China will fill this void and consequently the networks that used to be America's will become China's. As America retreats into its cave, China is buying every continent on the planet.

As you say, America is an import-driven economy. It has huge trade deficits with Europe, China, Japan etc. because it needs to buy so much of what it uses. Good luck refocusing on 'internal development' as the dollar slides, the yuan rises and America's supply of cheap everything gets choked off. Of course America could stage a massive u-turn after Trump is replaced and start chasing free trade again but... the world will already have been taken over by China.

I hate it whenever I agree with you, but sadly, that's a pretty fair summation.

If I had a penny for every time you, waauw and betiko have grudgingly accepted how wise I am, I'd be able to buy some candy.

----Don't pat your back to fast and pull something Mrs...
-------For it has always been common knowledge...in fact that is why the USA found it self in so many meaningless wars at the near end of the 20th cen. All Communism needs to win....Is to take over everything around us(the USA) and we will fall right in the hole that has surrounded us...As with Germany and Japan ,who could not win with their mighty armies...They would then take over Hawaii and Europe through economic means...COMMUNIST CHINA HAS SUCCEEDED WHERE RUSSIA HAS FAILED...POWER THROUGH MONEY NOT A MIGHTY ARMY AND WEAPONS... --- ConfederateSS.out!(The Blue and Silver Rebellion)...

[riskllama]

and don't forget the pandas, ss - s''called "soft power"...

[ConfederateSS]

and don't forget the pandas, ss - s''called "soft power"...

-----Free in China...In America even The PANDAS are given no due process...They are put behind bars as soon as their ass hits U.S. soil,with no trail either...ouch... ConfederateSS.out!(The Blue and Silver Rebellion)... ...Where is Rex Harrison to defend them?"Like Animals"

[Dukasaur]

The fly in the ointment for China is that its rise depends on people power, for it certainly has a good supply of people. The robot economy, however, may render people power irrelevant.

So, it's all a matter of timing. If robots render humans irrelevant before China's hegemony is complete, then Japan and the U.S. (as the biggest investors in robotics) may get to keep their positions.

[waauw]

The fly in the ointment for China is that its rise depends on people power, for it certainly has a good supply of people. The robot economy, however, may render people power irrelevant.

So, it's all a matter of timing. If robots render humans irrelevant before China's hegemony is complete, then Japan and the U.S. (as the biggest investors in robotics) may get to keep their positions.

Not at all. The US and Japan rely on innovation, which is much more than just robotics. China's future depends on whether it can foster enough highly educated creativity and by avoiding a brain drain.

[saxitoxin]

The British Empire's land mass wasn't the source of its power, it was a measure of its power. The UK got its power from its military and the trade networks this military enabled it to secure. For example, it used its military to force China to open its internal market to British opium, with sale of opium to China reversing the enormous trade deficit that the UK had previously had with China. And by colonizing India it was able to dismantle India's textiles industry, which until then was the British textile industry's main competitor.

The UK got its trade from its land mass. The UK has no resources on its core territory. The trade paid for the guns. Lose the land, you lose the trade. Lose the trade, you lose the guns.

That's why British students all learn this school song:

When the US cedes global leadership to China its soft power will diminish and consequently so will its ability to secure international cooperation on international defense or on trade. America has already gleefully abandoned its leadership on free trade and climate change. China will fill this void and consequently the networks that used to be America's will become China's. As America retreats into its cave, China is buying every continent on the planet.

The U.S. doesn't need international cooperation on defense or trade.

Defense: The U.S.' geographic isolation, combined with the enduring stockpile, is the guarantor of its military defense. You're conflating defense with power projection.
Trade: The U.S. is not a trading nation. Plus, it holds half the value of the world's companies in its exchanges. It does that because of its stability. Stability is borne by separation from conflict. Chaos always accompanies the ascendancy of a hegemonic power as coalitions of lesser states attempt to resist. That's IR 101. This is why the U.S. needs to step back and let China burst onto the scene instead of chaining itself to the defense of Europe or Japan. It avoids confrontation with China and becomes an oasis of institutional stability and wealth. Without the U.S. interfering, Europe will naturally run to Russia's skirts. This is enough power to ensure 100 years of tension and instability on The World Island while America - in self-imposed isolation - sails above the fray, friend to democrat and dictator alike.

As you say, America is an import-driven economy. It has huge trade deficits with Europe, China, Japan etc. because it needs to buy so much of what it uses. Good luck refocusing on 'internal development' as the dollar slides, the yuan rises and America's supply of cheap everything gets choked off. Of course America could stage a massive u-turn after Trump is replaced and start chasing free trade again but... the world will already have been taken over by China.

The world is being realigned by neo-mercantilist forces. Jerking yourself to free trade porn means you're planning to spunk in the year 1988. Meanwhile, I'm gonna bukkake the hell out of 2018.

[mrswdk]

The UK got its trade from its land mass. The UK has no resources on its core territory. The trade paid for the guns. Lose the land, you lose the trade. Lose the trade, you lose the guns.

What? Gesundheit.

Trade: The U.S. is not a trading nation.

Exports are like 20-25% of America's GDP.

Plus, it holds half the value of the world's companies in its exchanges.

The London Stock Exchange used to house something like 50% of the world's entire market capitalization. Times change

[saxitoxin]

Trade: The U.S. is not a trading nation.

Exports are like 20-25% of America's GDP.

LOL try 12%. And half of that is to Canada / Mexico / Caribbean where we have un-interruptable trade and supply.

Germany, by comparison, sits at 50% ... and all of its trade routes can be interrupted with either rock or paper. Every single one.

Supporting the global havoc and instability created by the ascendancy of neo-mercantilist forces is in the best interest of the United States. Bush/Clinton/Obama were motivated by an ideological drive to international tranquility which is why they acted against the best interests of the United States in supporting things like free trade and Atlanticism.

Until the Martian economy is better developed, every state that crumbles, weakens, and collapses is another hundo billion of wealth that retreats to MegaCity One. Today the cause of the United States is the global advancement of chaos, despair, and decay. Under President Donald J. Trump, the All Seeing Eye will turn everything it gazes on into black rot.

[mrswdk]

If half of Germany’s economy depends on exports, whose side do you think they’ll take: the country that hates free trade or the country that’s promoting it?

One more ally in the bank!