northman on Nostr: The United States likes to claim that it saved Europe by winning both World Wars. In ...
The United States likes to claim that it saved Europe by winning both World Wars.
In fact, the U.S. only entered WW1 in 1917, after the principal combatants had suffered millions of dead and exhausted themselves through the previous 3 years, and it only entered WW2 in 1941, after 2+ years of intense conflict.
Still, with only about 8% Government Debt/GDP in 1917 and under 39% in 1941, and a dominant industrial base safely distant from the conflict, its entry into both conflicts tipped the balance of power.
But the U.S. has never entered into direct military conflict with a World power that had not already been degraded by years of war. By continuously escalating the conflict in Ukraine and Taiwan, it risks doing exactly that, and potentially with two World powers at the same time. Further, with the current 134% Debt/GDP (excluding all the unfunded liabilities) and a hollowed-out heavy industrial base, it cannot count on the advantages that it possessed in the previous major conflicts.
Furthermore, after 3 decades of peace in Europe, its fellow NATO members have allowed their militaries to atrophy to the point that they can no longer be considered World powers. They also have to support huge debt loads while their industrial base is being crushed by high energy costs.
It appears that the U.S.’s dream of using the proxy war in Ukraine to gain unfettered access to Russia’s immense resources, much like European countries did in the 15th to 17th centuries with the riches from the Americas, may not come to pass. Instead, of the U.S. re-establishing itself as the sole dominent World power, this war may trigger its final decline.
In fact, the U.S. only entered WW1 in 1917, after the principal combatants had suffered millions of dead and exhausted themselves through the previous 3 years, and it only entered WW2 in 1941, after 2+ years of intense conflict.
Still, with only about 8% Government Debt/GDP in 1917 and under 39% in 1941, and a dominant industrial base safely distant from the conflict, its entry into both conflicts tipped the balance of power.
But the U.S. has never entered into direct military conflict with a World power that had not already been degraded by years of war. By continuously escalating the conflict in Ukraine and Taiwan, it risks doing exactly that, and potentially with two World powers at the same time. Further, with the current 134% Debt/GDP (excluding all the unfunded liabilities) and a hollowed-out heavy industrial base, it cannot count on the advantages that it possessed in the previous major conflicts.
Furthermore, after 3 decades of peace in Europe, its fellow NATO members have allowed their militaries to atrophy to the point that they can no longer be considered World powers. They also have to support huge debt loads while their industrial base is being crushed by high energy costs.
It appears that the U.S.’s dream of using the proxy war in Ukraine to gain unfettered access to Russia’s immense resources, much like European countries did in the 15th to 17th centuries with the riches from the Americas, may not come to pass. Instead, of the U.S. re-establishing itself as the sole dominent World power, this war may trigger its final decline.