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Are we heading for another world war – or has it already started? (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

16 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm not going to say the story backs the hed. Nonetheless, this isn't what you want to read happening. Selecting the correct excerpt is usually an easy task.

Here, it isn't.

The full story should be read, but the best I can do is this:

For the former US secretary of state Antony Blinken, Donald Trump’s indifference to alienating allies is an act of vandalism. He said diplomats around the world were asking: “What the fuck is going on?”

Blinken said America had spent 80 years building up trust, strong economic partnerships and military and political alliances, and if that was then taken down in a matter of 100 days it would be incredibly hard to rebuild.

“It means countries look for ways to work around us, to work together but without the US,” he said. “The possibility that what will be said today will be reversed tomorrow, and will be reversed again, means they simply cannot count on us. Joe Biden used to say it is never a good idea to bet against America. The problem we now have is people are no longer betting on America.”

I don't think anyone is arguing that there's any remaining U.S. hegemony, but this is stark. Get ready for everything you've known about the postwar era to go away. What comes next? Likely not anything good.

Seriously: Read the full piece. This is a five-alarm shitshow, and we're worrying about Barbie imports.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The thing that pisses me off the most these days is Westerners thinking the "rules-based" order ever mattered. It's not in retreat because there were never rules protecting small states from oppression by stronger actors; it was just out of sight from Westerners until 2022.

In Gaza the world has watched as a blockade on food, aid and medical supplies, in defiance of binding orders by the international court of justice (ICJ), has now entered into its third month. Israel, in search of security, has in the past month bombed Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Gaza. It is daily urging the US to be given permission to bomb Iran.

Yeah the only new part is that they're looking to pick a direct fight with Iran. Own this shit already you pussies.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

You are wrong that it never mattered. It failed in some cases but in others it didn't. And it is always something that activists could embarrass governments with. In some countries, it is even something that can be used to force a government to do stuff. It is a political space and we'll miss it when it's gone.