by Trevor » Fri Jan 09, 2026 4:50 pm
NATO's finally hit the 2% mark for their own defense. We've been griping and muttering for a long time that they weren't willing to contribute enough. Harsh as I know this sounds, I don't think they ever would have unless we cut them off from aid entirely. Which is what Trump's done, save for having them purchase weapons to give to Ukraine, a far cry from taking the lead.
Problem is: Europe faces enormous political and economic obstacles to standing on their own. They haven't done so for at least 35 years (arguably 80, although Western Europe invested a lot more during the Cold War) Defense industries are hollowed out and that's not something you can quickly rebuild. Poland's done more than anyone else, spending 4.6% of GDP on defense, but even for them, it's proving a difficult process. They've got aging populations, the highest tax burden in the world, and NATO is not by any means united. Not everyone sees Russia as an imminent threat, sometimes not even a distant one.
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Trump's operation in Venezuela has gone smoother than I ever expected. I don't doubt some of Maduro's underlings sold him out, either for power or merely to save their own hides; possibly both. Latin America has a lot of corruption, but they don't possess the religious fanaticism of the Middle East. Admittedly, he could still bungle it, so I'm not setting up the fireworks yet.
I've noticed the protests have been rather muted. Yes, there are some, but they're the ones who complain about anything we do. Even in Latin America and Venezuela itself, people are cheering. Few are going to shed any tears for the likes of Maduro, given everyone knows he's a dictator who seized power. He even dared us to do something about it. Cuba gets a lot of its oil and supplies from Venezuela, so that's gone. China gets some of their oil there, and Maduro was Russia's ally.
I don't expect it'll transition to a democracy, but if we're lucky, it'll be in our orbit. As Cold War logic went: "He's a bastard, but he's our bastard."
NATO's finally hit the 2% mark for their own defense. We've been griping and muttering for a long time that they weren't willing to contribute enough. Harsh as I know this sounds, I don't think they ever would have unless we cut them off from aid entirely. Which is what Trump's done, save for having them purchase weapons to give to Ukraine, a far cry from taking the lead.
Problem is: Europe faces enormous political and economic obstacles to standing on their own. They haven't done so for at least 35 years (arguably 80, although Western Europe invested a lot more during the Cold War) Defense industries are hollowed out and that's not something you can quickly rebuild. Poland's done more than anyone else, spending 4.6% of GDP on defense, but even for them, it's proving a difficult process. They've got aging populations, the highest tax burden in the world, and NATO is not by any means united. Not everyone sees Russia as an imminent threat, sometimes not even a distant one.
XXXXXXXXXX
Trump's operation in Venezuela has gone smoother than I ever expected. I don't doubt some of Maduro's underlings sold him out, either for power or merely to save their own hides; possibly both. Latin America has a lot of corruption, but they don't possess the religious fanaticism of the Middle East. Admittedly, he could still bungle it, so I'm not setting up the fireworks yet.
I've noticed the protests have been rather muted. Yes, there are some, but they're the ones who complain about anything we do. Even in Latin America and Venezuela itself, people are cheering. Few are going to shed any tears for the likes of Maduro, given everyone knows he's a dictator who seized power. He even dared us to do something about it. Cuba gets a lot of its oil and supplies from Venezuela, so that's gone. China gets some of their oil there, and Maduro was Russia's ally.
I don't expect it'll transition to a democracy, but if we're lucky, it'll be in our orbit. As Cold War logic went: "He's a bastard, but he's our bastard."