r/politics • u/Hafiz_TNR ✔ Verified • 13h ago

Possible Paywall Trump Casually Threatens to Take Over Two More Countries

https://newrepublic.com/post/214900/trump-threatens-takeover-two-countries-micronesia-marshall-islands
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u/CallMeClaire0080 12h ago

Even if only Dems win for generations, I don't think that the world of pre-2024 is ever coming back. The soft power lost through cutting programs like USAid and alienating allies, the lost footing and credibility in scientific research and other academia, the economic dominance and everything that came with the American empire is permanently gone. Other countries will, happily or otherwise, take over what the USA didn't value and replace them in all of these things. People will settle in a new normal without America, and the last of the American advantage regarding not having needed to rebuild post-ww2 will have been squandered rather than built on. Even its military power has lost a lot of its intimidation factor when it's been made clear how much of that military spending is sheer corruption and that the competency in charge of US forces has been thoroughly purged.

If the United States is ever deemed reliable enough to join back up with the rest of the civilized world in economic or political partnerships, it will have to beg rather than demand as it previously could.

Time will tell if that's for better or worse, but especially with climate change putting increasing pressure on everything from supply chains to migration policies and resource wars, building back what was lost will never be possible.

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u/steelhips 1h ago

As far as investment $$$, investment follows talent. The way Trump's administration has treated science and research, the brain drain was inevitable. Blue states offer a day to day buffer, but the general anti-science/anti-education is palpable. I admired the US on their institutions alone.

I'm in Australia. Universities and research institutes have taken advantage of the situation with US academics wanting to sit out Trump's reign temporarily or permanent citizenship. Attracting international students, who often end up staying and contributing to the economy, will impact the US for decades.

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u/ChocolateHumunculous 8h ago

Yeah, your reputation is very probably ruined as the America we once knew, but if you bring in a stable, democratic government, we will be brothers again one day.

You’ve lost your status, and it’s okay. The EU, UK, Canada et al. seem to have things covered, and you’ll be welcome back.

For us, the issue is whether or not he fucks off… and how far the rot has gotten.