Kyiv could rapidly develop a rudimentary weapon similar to that dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 to stop Russia if the US cuts military aid, it has been suggested
My understanding is that majority of neocons do see China as the main threat. However, there was a debate on whether the US should take on China directly or try to shape the battlefield first by breaking apart Russia. The line of thinking that Russia provides China with a shield in the west and the resources China would need to withstand western blockade is legitimate. The cardinal mistake was underestimating Russian capabilities. The faction that won the debate thought they just had blow hard enough and Russia would collapse. At that point they'd get to Balkanize it and surround China with hostile puppet regimes from the west. That's now backfiring in a spectacular fashion.
it's incredible to me that this "we just have to kick the doors in and the whole rotten edifice will fall down around their ears" thinking is still going strong. collapsing russia by military means worked exactly once, in ww1, and it took years of grinding them down and even then, it only worked because russia was ready for revolution.
it didnt work for napoleon. it didnt work for hitler. and so far, it's not working for nato either. their previous strategy of dangling blue jeans in front of russians worked better, they should go back to that.
Chauvinism is a hell of a drug, a lot of people in the west have convinced themselves they're superior to Russians and I think the fall of USSR really went to their heads.
The problem is that US manufacturing is dependent on China so that instead of building domestic factories to supply them, companies will just pay the tariffs and pass the costs onto the consumer.
I think they're hoping that people won't buy the products, forcing companies to shut down or find new suppliers. This would cause a dip and ideally a rebound. The problem is that the people in the US and their infrastructure cannot survive a dip. The US is overspending, something's got to give, and I'm guessing they'll continue cutting aid to everyone but Israel.
On top of that, as we saw with Russian sanctions, it's very difficult to enforce such things effectively. For example, Chinese could just build factories in Mexico, or sell stuff through third parties. This becomes very difficult to track, especially when trade is being done increasingly outside the dollar. So, the US is guaranteed to lose this game of whack-a-mole trying to enforce their tariffs.
Ultimately, the selection pressures of capitalism favor companies that can generate more profit than their competitors. I also don't see customers giving a fuck where their stuff is made. Especially given that the economic situation is not looking all that great. People will buy stuff that's cheapest to save money.
My understanding is that majority of neocons do see China as the main threat. However, there was a debate on whether the US should take on China directly or try to shape the battlefield first by breaking apart Russia. The line of thinking that Russia provides China with a shield in the west and the resources China would need to withstand western blockade is legitimate. The cardinal mistake was underestimating Russian capabilities. The faction that won the debate thought they just had blow hard enough and Russia would collapse. At that point they'd get to Balkanize it and surround China with hostile puppet regimes from the west. That's now backfiring in a spectacular fashion.
it's incredible to me that this "we just have to kick the doors in and the whole rotten edifice will fall down around their ears" thinking is still going strong. collapsing russia by military means worked exactly once, in ww1, and it took years of grinding them down and even then, it only worked because russia was ready for revolution.
it didnt work for napoleon. it didnt work for hitler. and so far, it's not working for nato either. their previous strategy of dangling blue jeans in front of russians worked better, they should go back to that.
Chauvinism is a hell of a drug, a lot of people in the west have convinced themselves they're superior to Russians and I think the fall of USSR really went to their heads.
The problem is that US manufacturing is dependent on China so that instead of building domestic factories to supply them, companies will just pay the tariffs and pass the costs onto the consumer.
I think they're hoping that people won't buy the products, forcing companies to shut down or find new suppliers. This would cause a dip and ideally a rebound. The problem is that the people in the US and their infrastructure cannot survive a dip. The US is overspending, something's got to give, and I'm guessing they'll continue cutting aid to everyone but Israel.
On top of that, as we saw with Russian sanctions, it's very difficult to enforce such things effectively. For example, Chinese could just build factories in Mexico, or sell stuff through third parties. This becomes very difficult to track, especially when trade is being done increasingly outside the dollar. So, the US is guaranteed to lose this game of whack-a-mole trying to enforce their tariffs.
Ultimately, the selection pressures of capitalism favor companies that can generate more profit than their competitors. I also don't see customers giving a fuck where their stuff is made. Especially given that the economic situation is not looking all that great. People will buy stuff that's cheapest to save money.
Exactly. They are counting on people's patriotism, but feelings of nationalism can't pay the bills.