Putin on US global influence: "It's almost over"

[CitizenVectron]

 

He's right, at least for now. I suppose the US could return to prominence (though not dominance) if it actually had leadership that cared and also a populace that wasn't dumb.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

There's no "almost" about it - it' gone.

 

Even if the United States regained a leadership that "genuinely" cared about its place in the world, that doesn't change the fact that the American population itself by and large no longer cares about it either.

[atom631]

...and this was Russia's plan all along. Mission Accomplished. 

[atom631]

22 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said:

There's no "almost" about it - it' gone.

 

 that doesn't change the face that the American population itself by and large no longer cares about it either.

 

I agree. I really don't know anyone who isn't tired of us playing world police. 

[Bloodporne]

[legend]

I'm okay with that provided the rest of NATO fills the vacuum. I'm not so sure about that though.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

6 minutes ago, legend said:

I'm okay with that provided the rest of NATO fills the vacuum. I'm not so sure about that though.

Their publics aren't particularly interested in it either.

 

The "West" is exhausted as a social, political, and moral force.  It is absolutely spent.

[skillzdadirecta]

1 hour ago, atom631 said:

...and this was Russia's plan all along. Mission Accomplished. 

 

With the help of the modern day "Conservative"... be real interesting to see what the world looks like if America becomes more isolationist and other wealthy countries fill the vacuum. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

1 minute ago, skillzdadirecta said:

 

With the help of the modern day "Conservative"... be real interesting to see what the world looks like if America becomes more isolationist and other wealthy countries fill the vacuum. 

But they're not really interested in filling the vacuum either because it's a really, really expensive thing to do and they've seen that the return on investment is kinda shit.

 

For China, they're pretty much interested in securing their trade routes - that's it.  They're not looking to be "world police" and they're more than willing to cut deals with nefarious characters to make that happen.  Russia knows that it will never be a globally dominant force and they're totally OK with that.  All Moscow wants is to ensure that there is no one dominant hyperpower but that the world has a bunch of major powers of which they are just one.  And most importantly for Russia, they want a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe and the "Stans", but no global ambitions beyond that.

[skillzdadirecta]

8 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said:

But they're not really interested in filling the vacuum either because it's a really, really expensive thing to do and they've seen that the return on investment is kinda shit.

 

For China, they're pretty much interested in securing their trade routes - that's it.  They're not looking to be "world police" and they're more than willing to cut deals with nefarious characters to make that happen.  Russia knows that it will never be a globally dominant force and they're totally OK with that.  All Moscow wants is to ensure that there is no one dominant hyperpower but that the world has a bunch of major powers of which they are just one.  And most importantly for Russia, they want a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe and the "Stans", but no global ambitions beyond that.

 

Nature abhors a vacuum and SOMEONE will fill it whether they want to or not if only to protect their own interests... China is investing a LOT in Africa for instance and it's in their interest to maintain stability to protect their interests. That's the only reason we became "world police" anyway... to open and protect markets for our home grown companies and products. Now that are largest companies are truly multinational, it doesn't really matter WHO polices the world, but eventually someone os gonna have to do it. Either way, the relative peace on a global scale that we've experienced post WW2 is about to come to an end. Expect some real turbulence in the coming decades that most of us have never really experienced.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

1 minute ago, skillzdadirecta said:

 

Nature abhors a vacuum and SOMEONE while fill it whether they want or not if only to protect their own interests... China is investing a LOT in Africa for instance and it's in their interest to maintain stability to protect their interests. That's the only reason we became "world police" anyway... to open and protect markets for our home grown companies and products. Now that are largest companies are truly multinational, it doesn't really matter WHO polices the world, but eventually someone os gonna have to do it. Either way, the relative peace on a global scale that we've experienced post WW2 is about to come to an end. Expect some real turbulence in the coming decades that most of us have never really experienced.

That turbulence can in large part be traced to climate change. Yayy

[skillzdadirecta]

1 minute ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

That turbulence can in large part be traced to climate change. Yayy

 

This too. Buckle up buttercups... we're gonna look back at the late 20th Century early 21st Century as "The Golden Years" 

[marioandsonic]

2 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

 

This too. Buckle up buttercups... we're gonna look back at the late 20th Century early 21st Century as "The Golden Years" 

And people say the 90s were a terrible decade, lol

[skillzdadirecta]

2 minutes ago, marioandsonic said:

And people say the 90s were a terrible decade, lol

 

Who says that? The 90's were awesome  Great music and movies too

[mclumber1]

2 hours ago, b_m_b_m_b_m said:

That turbulence can in large part be traced to climate change. Yayy

 

In what way?  Is the environment that much different today than it was 50 years ago?  

[Jason]

2 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

 

Nature abhors a vacuum and SOMEONE will fill it whether they want to or not if only to protect their own interests... China is investing a LOT in Africa for instance and it's in their interest to maintain stability to protect their interests. That's the only reason we became "world police" anyway... to open and protect markets for our home grown companies and products. Now that are largest companies are truly multinational, it doesn't really matter WHO polices the world, but eventually someone os gonna have to do it. Either way, the relative peace on a global scale that we've experienced post WW2 is about to come to an end. Expect some real turbulence in the coming decades that most of us have never really experienced.

 

There won't be a vacuum, there just won't be a single global hegemon like post-WWII USA has been.

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

4 hours ago, mclumber1 said:

 

In what way?  Is the environment that much different today than it was 50 years ago?  

In the future.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

5 hours ago, Jason said:

 

There won't be a vacuum, there just won't be a single global hegemon like post-WWII USA has been.

Right - this is my position.

[Joe]

That's a good thing, non?

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

2 minutes ago, Jose said:

That's a good thing, non?

I'm sure it was thought to be so in July 1914