No, this is extremely atypical US imperialism. That’s why the world finds it so shocking. Typical US imperialism is quietly redirecting food aid to support a more US friendly leader taking power, and slipping some arms shipments in as well. Our typical imperialism included strong-arming other world leaders, but only in closed door meetings, followed by shaking hands and smiling with them for the cameras. It was subtly reminding allies that they rely on our militarily might for safety from their more aggressive neighbors, so they owe us support on a global issue. And yes, the more heinous stuff, like assassinations, bribery, supporting coups, and etc. All stuff that’s plausibly deniable, or given a veneer of legitimacy, or just kept unnoticed. By the time any of the awfulness shows through, it’s old news, everyone’s attention has moved on to elsewhere.
Trump is destroying or fucking up at all of that. He’s taken all the winning hands the US has carefully built up and banked over many years, and thrown them in the trash. Following that, his meeting with Zelensky caught global attention by being blatantly naked imperialism running down the street babbling incoherently. If you’re an enemy of the US, or just someone who’s sick of our shit, you may want to celebrate, because we are currently watching American hegemony disintegrate in real time.
Or “raw earth” as our Idiot In Chief repeatedly says
$500 billion in raw earth sounds like one heck of a logistical challenge.
This is why Trump is extorting Ukraine. The people of the USA are overwhelmingly in favor of helping Ukraine fight against Putin’s imperialistic invasion.
overwhelmingly
50-50 is about ending the war or reclaiming lost territories.
Polls about US support in your link is : “Americans are also split as to whether the U.S. is doing too much (37%), the right amount (31%) or not enough (30%) to aid Ukraine.”
So 37% : “we should do less/abandon/be against Ukraine”
and 62% : “we should continue to back up Ukraine”It’s the same question phrased differently. I’d imagine a significant portion of the “right amount” answers don’t have strong feelings either way.
Regardless, I wouldn’t really consider 62% “overwhelming,” but I guess that"s subjective.
“supports”
That headline for this editorial cartoon is amazingly bad. The US supports Ukraine because they are our ally and they’re protecting our other allies from getting taken by Russia. We are fighting a proxy war. Trump is sucking Putin’s dick for whatever reason and wanting that “raw earth” with no guarantees to help Ukraine. He has a “we’ll see” after they make a deal.
The rare earth ploy was never serious. This is stupid. Trump was never going to disobey daddy.
A slight improvement could have been a swastika on one arm and mother Russia on the other. And maybe a Nobel Peace Prize receipt and money coming out of Trump’s pocket.
Edited first comment instead of adding new one
Big win for everyone who is anti-US Imperialism. Europe is abandoning the US, standing behind Ukraine. US is losing all its power abroad.
Europe is abandoning the US
isn’t it rather the inverse? By which i mean: the U.S. has abandoned Europe
Yes, so I suppose to phrase it better, the US is abandoning it’s vassals, so its vassals are declaring independence. And vassals becoming independent and leaving the empire is the best outcome for anti-Imperialists.
I don’t know… I feel like this is all premeditated. Project 2025 basically describes this exact thing: get EU to stop relying on the US. It’s all a bit more insidious than just Old Donnie being stupid and vain. I truly wonder whether this is a US conservative’s gamble to get stronger allies, or just a much bigger plan to extract more wealth for the rich in the US.
I, for one, would love to see Europe get rid of American dependence, but I have a feeling that everything will go back to the usual after getting peace in Ukraine. The US has enough buffer between them, China and Russia to not care, and plan for much farther ahead. They will keep lining up the pockets of policy makers to get them to lean towards their interests, and 2-3 generations down the line we nudge even closer to far right capitalism. Especially since Europe now might start shifting it’s industry to produce weapons, which will take our focus away from other important areas, like local chip manufacturing.
I’m curious to hear other opinions though. What is your take on all of this?
I have longed for us to detach the umbilical, but it’s kinda sad that the country is being demolished so fast and it will not be fun at all when they start killing women and gays and then some new random thing their leader fancies
Similar thought to your first paragraph, now that the dust is settling. My best guess is the current US playbook is to risk most of the US soft power and take advantage of its current economic position to really bolster its hard power so the US is in a position to exert more direct force/coerce the rest of the world for what it wants and have more control over policy in other countries. If that’s really the case then china is probably the biggest threat to that gamble as it’s been catching up to or surpassing the US in a few industries recently. And if the gamble fails the economy sinks for a while and Europe or china passes the us as the global powerhouse.
Which is why they are such pals with Russian imperialism, who are also going after the same thing. Which is why Russia will still continue to attack Ukraine even after their NATO excuse has been disbanded.
The word “imperialism” does not mean what you think that it means.
