Originally appeared at PaulCraigRoberts.org
America has been a discouraging landscape ever since the neoconservatives took over US foreign policy during the Clinton regime and started the two decades of war crimes that define 21st century America and ever since US corporations betrayed the US work force by moving American jobs to Asia.
The outlook became darker when the Obama regime resurrected the Russian Threat and elevated the prospect of military conflict between the nuclear powers.
As Europe is caught in the middle, in normal circumstances European countries would have insisted that Washington cease the gratuitous provocations of Russia. But normal circumstances have not existed. Since the end of WW2, European countries have been vassals without independent economic and foreign policies.
Europe hosts US military bases that threaten Russia. Europe has backed Washington’s wars of aggression against Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Washington’s air attacks on provinces of Pakistan, and Washington’s use of Saudi Arabia to fight its proxy war against Yemen.
Europe has backed Washington’s gratuitous economic sanctions against Iran and Russia, sanctions that have cost Europe much and Washington little.
Accustomed to having its way with Europe, Washington commits Europe without even consulting the vassal governments. Now it seems Washington’s extraordinary arrogance and hubris has resulted in overreach. Confronted with a new round of sanctions against Russia, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission told Washington that the time has passed when Washington can put its interests first and Europe’s last.
The new sanctions have devastating economic and political consequences for Europe. Juncker said that if Europe’s “concerns are not taken into account sufficiently, we stand ready to act appropriately within a matter of days.”
The German and French foreign ministries added their support to Juncker. The German foreign ministry said: “It is not in the Americans’ right to judge or stipulate which way European companies may engage in cooperation with any third parties – particularly, with Russian energy companies.”
The French foreign ministry said: the sanctions “contradict international law” due to their “extraterritorial reach.”
Europe views the sanctions as a tool of US industrial policy that elevates US business interests over Europe’s business interests.
Let’s hope that Washington’s arrogance will not permit Washington to back down and that Europe will give Washington the finger and disengage from the American Empire. Without Europe to host its military bases and to parrot its propaganda, Washington’s ability to threaten Russia would significantly decline. Indeed, a continuation of the hostile threatening attitude toward Russia would leave Washington isolated in the world. No country wants the risk of experiencing nuclear war merely for the sake of Washington’s unilateralism.
It is high time for Germany to stand up and shed the guilt that was laid upon them from the Second World War Commit to its own foreign policy’s in line with China’s Belt Roads , prosperity for all . War is not the answer , leave America to discover that for themselves .
From Argentina,totally agree with Ronald. USA governments are completely drived by Israel and military industrial maffias, with Wall Street and MSM also receiving orders from Israel. Russia and China are the guarantee for peace in the world. Let´s hope that Europeans start to realize that is time to stop being puppets of USA. and stop provocation in Russian borders . Good relations with every nation in the world is better for everybody, including Americans.
Everybody in the Western Hemisphere are actually Americans the US you can call “Statesians” or US citizens ,America is a land mass not a country.
There are N. America and S. America but to refer to America is to refer to neither. America does not refer to both continents; you must use Western Hemisphere to do that. One and only one place on earth is meant by America.
Then that refers to North America which the Brits and Europeans referenced as America . The US is the country and not America that is where mot people get it wrong since Amerigo Vespucci sighted the Canadian coast before the US coast no landfall occurred because they were looking for a passage to the India.
I agree but I do not want China being the most powerful nation in the world! Those people have no respect for people or the earth!
I very much doubt Europe will ever act out of virtue. May be it will conclude that its scheming interest do not align with the usa. So some element of independence is possible. Don’t think Europe is in any sense better than the usa. May be as the hyena and the vulture fight over the antelope, the antelope will escape.