2y ago

What Foreign Diplomats Say About US Politics Behind Closed Doors

www.politico.com

Ambassadors to Washington warn that the GOP-Democratic divide is endangering America’s national security.

When I asked the European ambassador to talk to me about America’s deepening partisan divide, I expected a polite brushoff at best. Foreign diplomats are usually loath to discuss domestic U.S. politics.

Instead, the ambassador unloaded for an hour, warning that America’s poisonous politics are hurting its security, its economy, its friends and its standing as a pillar of democracy and global stability.

The U.S. is a “fat buffalo trying to take a nap” as hungry wolves approach, the envoy mused. “I can hear those Champagne bottle corks popping in Moscow — like it’s Christmas every fucking day.”

As voters cast ballots in the Iowa caucuses Monday, many in the United States see this year’s presidential election as a test of American democracy. But, in a series of conversations with a dozen current and former diplomats, I sensed that to many of our friends abroad, the U.S. is already failing that test.

65 comments

The whole world feels like losing a big brother to the agony of drug addiction, forced to watch all the stupid decisions that impact millions of lives across the globe.
It's such a hurtful thing, as someone who experienced the optimism of the nineties, when the cold war appeared to be over. It's been downwards from there, through Bush all the way up to Trump.
Get well big bro. Pull through, pls.
- The whole world feels like losing a big brother to the agony of drug addiction, forced to watch all the stupid decisions that impact millions of lives across the globe.
  No that's just the west. There's a large portion of the globe that is fine to see US decay and they're not wrong to feel that way. Decades of global bullying, undermining democracies, letting corporations rape and pollute their countries, and proxy wars have left little sympathy for the US.
  This is a chickens coming home to roost moment
  
  Does the world really want a world where Putin is the undisputed heavyweight champion?
  
  Ah yes, because a world dictated by Russia or China is a much better alternative.
  
  No that’s just the west. There’s a large portion of the globe that is fine to see US decay and they’re not wrong to feel that way. Decades of global bullying, undermining democracies, letting corporations rape and pollute their countries, and proxy wars have left little sympathy for the US.
  This is an insane claim that's simply not backed up by evidence. Pro-US sentiment remains widespread in the world, despite the claims and desires of self-hating Westerners.
  
  Decades of global bullying, undermining democracies, letting corporations rape and pollute their countries, and proxy wars have left little sympathy for the US.
  The USA has things to answer for as far as interfering with other nations based upon our (or our corporation's) interests.
  However, I'd caution the enthusiasm about the downfall of the USA. I'm betting you'll find the alternatives worse.
  
  The problem is the alternative is worse, prime example Russia in Sudan.
Crazy that the red scare happened in America but now, now they're just playing into foreign takeovers. I guess hollowing out education and starving the population worked.
Idiots, absolute idiots.
- Conservatives, absolute conservatives.
  
  Yeah it seems like every time a decision on education comes up THIS party is all "more money for education and teachers, better working condi-" and the OTHER party is all "fuck that we want a make-believe jet fighter, and new coal plants - money taken!"
  And I'm not talking about the last ten or twenty or thirty years. I mean the last fifty at the very least.
  This is why the "both sides bad" and "baby Dems big mad @ Biden lolz" is classic russian troll meat. It's really. that. simple. Democratic supermajorities across the country, we'll fix this shit. Or, y'know, stay the course.
There’s a growing sense among foreign diplomats that moral or national security arguments — about defending a country unjustly invaded, deterring Russia, preventing a bigger war in Europe and safeguarding democracy — don’t work on the American far-right.
50 years ago the far right fought the “Red Menace “, today they embrace it. /smh
GOP in 2016 = We need to elect Trump because the world is laughing at us.
GOP in 2024 = Who cares what the rest of the world thinks about us?
- They stopped caring the second Trump got elected and the whole world turned against us except for Putin and his cronies.
  
  They quite obviously never cared. Obama was more respected among America's allies than any president since JFK or some shit. Meanwhile their candidate was globally treated as a fucking joke.
  Not even a funny joke - one of those racist sexist jokes your drunk stepfather tells. And the Kremlin were the only ones laughing.
  
  I always took it as a given that any American pol was in favor of the US being 'leader of the Free World.'
  On the other hand, I always thought that the American voter would turn away from a guy who constantly spoke ill of America's veterans.
The past decade of American politics has convinced the world there is merit in reducing reliance on the US and the next decade will reinforce that. The US economy is nothing if it cannot remain a competitive investment option for foreign dollars. Id wager the majority of the reason the fed jacked rates was to keep the dollar as a great investment for those foreign investors. The unemployment boost they said they were looking for didn't happen but they say they're done raising rates, so they did get something they wanted it seems.
And since American loves to import necessities, should those foreign investments halt and stop helping to keep the dollar competitive internationally, America will go from a third world country with shiny commodites, to a third world country with nothing but the largest military on earth.
Conditions like that give rise to even more authoritarian right wing populists who would end up assuming control of a country with a poor economy but immense military might. What do you think is going to happen? Because my guess is exactly what Russia is doing now. That is what is at risk for the future of a US that doesn't get it's shit together. If you think stopping Russias military is hard, Imagine the USA decides it's time to leverage military might for economic gain.
- Imagine the USA decides it’s time to leverage military might for economic gain.
  I see what you mean in general, but it's a bit funny to assume the US hasn't been leveraging its military for economic gain (see: the whole Mmiddle East).
  
  A less controversial example is that the USA provides security for many shipping lanes. Few countries are in a position to do that currently.
  
  Fair enough, but as it stands the US is tolerable as a security guarantor because they use that force "fairly" enough to other powerful states. Without other states invested in the US econ theres much less to lose and instead of protecting them, the US could easily use their existing global reach to extort anyone who needs that security, pay up or you're on your own. And that money would go right to the presumably despotic government, not even routed through multinationals that buy the government representatives. Neither is preferable, but if the government becomes nothing but a military, more money directly to them would likely cause more bad things.
- fed jacked rates ... they did get something they wanted
  Fewer loans issued by member banks means less new money entering the economy via private spending, which means the federal government can spend that much more money without impacting inflation. And there is plenty that needs to be bought, from pandemic related expenses, to scaling up weapons production in anticipation of WWIII, infrastructure modernization and other measures to encourage manufacturing to return from China to the American continent, and social programs to treat the worst mass poverty seen since the Great Depression.

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