The flawed belief that common liberal values would maintain American fidelity in perpetuity gravely distorted Europe’s strategic thinking. Moral posturing became valued more highly than hard power. Burning the bridges with the East without securing a foundation in the West left Europe at the mercy of a predatory power, its fate a cautionary tale in realpolitik.
Very salient point. I was thinking about the difference between people like Carney, who understands that modern liberalism is primarily a tool for the US and capitalists to maintain a world order friendly to their interests and their profits, and these European leaders who have bought into their own propaganda about universal values and democratic interventionism, unable to recognise their own hypocrisy.
Carney can see when fully embracing liberalism no longer suits his capitalist backers, and so pivots to Qatar and China to insulate Canadian businesses regardless of the lack of ‘shared values’ or ‘freedom’. The Europeans meanwhile continue to cement their economic, industrial, and technological dependence on the US, and are consistently surprised when they get ripped off doing so.
Exactly, and I think it’s largely a result of Canada still having some degrees of freedom to play with. Europe managed to maneuver itself into a position where they’re entirely reliant on the US now, and they have no clear way out of the trap. Canada has its own resources, and it doesn’t have a bogey man like Russia that can be used to whip people into a frenzy. Amusingly, being so close to the US, and with Trump talking about making Canada the 51st state, the US is now being seen as the primary threat to us. And that’s what makes it possible for Carney to actually go and talk to China.
Once again the “tankies” were right all along. Cassandra’s curse strikes again.
