We’ve had a crazy week. The Trump administration has broken free from its chains. It struck Venezuela. It appropriates the proceeds from the sale of its oil. She decided to take Greenland from the Danes. She quietly moved warplanes to Britain so she could bomb Iran. In the end, she detained the ship under the Russian flag.
And deaf Europe? Deaf Europe goes into overdrive undisturbed: it is about to send troops to Ukraine. Because Ukraine insists on guarantees, from which the Americans (quite understandably) backed away.
At the end of the year, we praised the Americans for their new security strategy. It was supposed to stand on respect, balance of power, agreements… In the end, it degenerated into a cowboy style that we don’t even remember from the time of George W. Bush.
The Americans attacked Venezuela to overthrow Maduro‘s government and appropriate its resources (mainly oil). Trump announced that the proceeds from the renewed sale of Venezuelan oil to the United States will not end up in Venezuela’s accounts, but in the accounts of the US Treasury. He will manage them. In other words, they will pay themselves for the “purchase” of oil. The elections are to be postponed. Democracy is not a priority. The priority is the security and prosperity of the United States.
Shortly after the operation in Venezuela, Trump declared that the United States would take Greenland, which belongs to Denmark, an EU member state. The Danes have to choose whether to proceed with a sale or a last-ditch solution.
Greenland is strategically important for missile defense that would protect the United States from nuclear attacks from Russia. Or, on the contrary, from the Greenlandic bases, American forces could have missile coverage of practically the entire territory of the Russian Federation – up close and from the north, through the polar regions.
At the same time, the Americans were moving fighter planes to military bases in Britain. They are to be deployed in the eventual bombing of Iran and its missile arsenal, which threatens Israel.
Within a few days, Trump overturned the table on which the remnants of the international and Western order stood. Americans demonstrate strength and determination to take what is rightfully theirs.
The new security policy of the United States looks terrible in practice. And at the same time very comprehensible, simple and readable.
In short: the Americans admit that the old post-war order built on the UN Security Council has fallen. It happened earlier – with Iraq, Syria, Libya… But now it is quite obvious.
They also admit that the newer, western order, which was built after 1989 on the expansion of American globalists, has also fallen. And on their “presence in the world”, which was supposed to be unipolar – led by the United States and based on the Western system… Trump ends this costly policy – the policy of the American presence in the world – as having been overcome. It was expensive and unprofitable. But at the same time, it demonstrates a determination to maintain control at a distance, so to speak. With a hand on the controller from the military arsenal. The tools should be the threat of special operations (Venezuela, Greenland), bombing (Iran), arms deliveries (Taiwan).
The Western Hemisphere is supposed to belong to the Americans. As a base. And American interests outside of it, especially in the Middle East, Southeast Asia or Europe, are to be protected from the air. The threat of strategic bombers.
Trump made no secret of this new approach even during the years 2016 to 2020. He wanted to withdraw the United States from the world. To save hundreds of billions of dollars in the programs they were talking about american presence in the world. And at the same time he wanted to maintain dominance with a long stick. The threat that he can strike and destroy the “enemy regime” militarily at any time and anywhere.
It didn’t work out for him then. Today he tries again and harder.
Another thing that changes is the mask. Trump tore her down. It was a mask of democracy, freedom, law, goodness… Americans used to wrap attacks on other countries in fairy tales about the spread of democracy, freedom, and law. It was hypocritical, but part of the public, especially the simpler (Havel) part, liked it.
Trump’s team is no longer playing for anything. Unlike the progressives, he doesn’t want any stupid masks. For one thing, they are repugnant to him. And above all, they stopped working. The Trump administration only wants to show a stern face. To put it a little more simply: the world should respect the United States not because it is beautiful, but because it is strong. Military strong.
The new strategy of the Americans is not just an invention or experiment of Trump. She is forced. The balance of power in the world has changed. The United States is not the only superpower, as it projected after the fall of the communist bloc. They are one of the superpowers whose global weight is declining year by year. They no longer have the ability to invest billions in re-educating the world in their image. But they still have what it takes to strike militarily. Mainly for countries that do not have a nuclear shield.
The attempt to tame Venezuela as an ally of Iran, China and Russia is likely to be followed by a higher game: the attempt to bomb Iran’s missile arsenal. Why? Because it is in Israel’s vital interest. And then because the disarmament of Iran would be a blow to China and Russia.
After breaking Iran and backing out of the war over Ukraine (which they will hang on the thin neck of Europe), the Americans could focus on China. To a great power that could depose the United States from the position of commercial and financial hegemon…
The new military policy of the Americans seems harsh. However, it is very questionable whether it can work in the long term and bring the planned results.
It is also questionable whether the Americans demonstrate real strength or weakness through the methods of intimidation, blackmail and arson. And desperate steps.
It looks more like the latter. The intention to withdraw from the world and hold power at a distance, by striking hard at enemy governments, is not a long-term sustainable strategy. It’s just a mildly hysterical attempt to force respect by brute force. This crude approach can bring short-term benefits. And the long-term escalation of resistance against the Americans.
It can also be seen in Venezuela. Maduro was removed. His regime does not. That’s not enough remote control. Remote control. Maintaining a country where anti-American sentiment will escalate will require an enormous effort. And with a very uncertain outcome in the long term.
And time is no longer in favor of the United States. It plays in favor of China and partly Russia.
The same may be true of Iran. It probably won’t be difficult to bomb a part of his missile depots. But extinguishing anti-American and anti-Israeli hatred in the Middle East and enforcing order from afar will be exhausting. And long-term fruitless.
The age when the right of the stronger is not tamed by even the most basic international order and law cannot last long. It would be an annoying Middle Eastern mentality on a global scale.
The development will necessarily lead either to an increased risk of a major collision – a world war, after which a new order would be born (perhaps with a center of gravity outside the northern hemisphere), or it will lead to agreements on a new order for the 21st century, which will stand in the spheres of influence of the key powers. And on mutual respect.
The reactions to the United States’ power policy showed how confused Europe is. And incomprehensible. This also applies to Slovakia and especially to the instinctive considerations of progressives and the opposition.
At the time when Trump admitted that it might be Greenland’s turn after Venezuela, i.e. the tearing of Denmark as a member of the EU, European and Slovak progressives came with rounded attitudes. Korčok and Valášek started – following the example from London – by saying that no one will miss Maduro. The continuation of their stylistic work was no longer worth talking about.
It was similarly empty as the ramblings of the European Commission, Kaja Kallasova or Merz.
He said, for example, that he is closely monitoring the situation.
Parroting patterns from Britain was not a good idea. Britain is a key ally of the United States. The sinking of the militarily and politically old EU does not have to worry her. She likes to share “neighboring” Greenland with the Americans.
When it comes to Europe, and specifically the EU, it is in fatal danger. In an era of wilderness and predators – the will of military powers – the EU is extremely vulnerable.
This is a hundred times more true if the United States – a great power that treats Europe like a protectorate – claims the right of the stronger. And if they are going to occupy Greenland militarily.
Healthy instincts would command, at least in case of fatal threat, to raise a finger, to condemn the illegal antics of the United States. And threaten trade sanctions if the law is not respected.