Comment by BLKNSLVR
16 hours ago
The US has any soft power left?
I think Trump has successfully destroyed all of that and replaced it with (rhetoric about) threats of hard power.
The Trump administration is the equivalent of a lazy/absent parent. The kids have no respect for them whatsoever, but they're sick with them for time being and aware that belt hurts when it's deployed.
It still has quite a bit. It took decades to build it up, and Trump has not yet managed to destroy all of it in one year, but maybe four years ...
No I think it’s properly ruined at this point. There is no possible way any of their formal allies will ever be able to trust them again without a LOT of people going to jail and such fundamental changes to how power works in the country that I don’t think they are even remotely capable of pulling off.
I am deeply skeptical of this statement. Soft power is great but actual power comes from the ability to project your military and economy.
As such, the US's soft power will remain until the EU is willing to compromise on its welfare state to build an actual functioning defense industry and an economy that prioritizes innovation over taxes/regulation.
But I am skeptical the EU/UK will ever reach such a compromise (see: mass riots in France over raising the retirement age, despite it being objectively and clearly necessary; the UK's reluctance to release the triple lock pension despite it impoverishing the country, etc.)
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