I agree. Especially with Trump’s posturing towards Canada and Mexico with talks of annexation and invasion, it is increasingly clear that the US is starting to view allies and neighbors as targets for their exploitation, and the existing imperial apparatus as dead weight as their own geopolitical position weakens. The US doesn’t want to subsidize the existing organs of empire that it shares with the EU, Canada, etc; rather they want to pare this operation down to refocus themselves, and those who don’t comply with the goals of the empire will get sanctioned, overthrown, or invaded regardless of their previous ally status. They don’t see Western countries as partners in crime anymore, they are targets and liabilities to the US bourgeoisie

[–] ExotiqueMatter@lemmygrad.ml 28 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

and those who don’t comply with the goals of the empire will get sanctioned, overthrown, or invaded regardless of their previous ally status. They don’t see Western countries as partners in crime anymore, they are targets and liabilities to the US bourgeoisie

The previous dismantlement of European industries by the US these past years was kinda going in that direction, in hindsight.

[–] NewOldGuard@hexbear.net 26 points 3 days ago

Oh for sure. And the whole NordStream 2 debacle and the US charging through the nose for natural gas and oil going to Europe really shows that they don’t care to share the spoils of empire anymore

[–] NewOldGuard@hexbear.net 24 points 3 days ago

I will say that I’ll be shocked if they actually quit supporting the Taiwan separatists though. The US just gains too much from supporting them in terms of hard power projection in East Asia, and in utilizing their semiconductor industry. That latter point is becoming more tenuous as the US tries to build its own semiconductor industry, but they still rely heavily on Taiwan for this. Imperialism isn’t gonna stop and they love exploiting the cheap labor there and hopeless political cause of the ROC as a base for military and intelligence operations. It seems the main goal is to stop the soft power and aid to pad the margins of empire a bit more