Post Reply - WAR

   DJ, There are "claims" China was only two years away from "not needing" the US. China is the motor in the SCO, a driver behind BRICS+...ASEAN more and more "on the same line" as China. 
Somehow the US/trump thinks India will give up its "good relations" with Russia for almost a century to make a short term deal with trump...In reality "the elephant-India and the dragon-China are going for a tango" (Modhi-India). 

Asia is 70% of the global population...GDP-PPP, production capacity, natural resources may be around that %...So-as many times in history-the "west" needs Asia harder, Asia may be better of without the west/neo-colonialism...

Giving up the #1 position you think you had may not be "welcome"...The UK lost the #1 position during World War Two (and there are links between nazism and the US going further then henry ford, bush-banks, IBM and coca-cola). 

Confrontation may be the WRONG approach. The Japanese https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1884694.The_Three_Bamboos or https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1884694.The_Three_Bamboos describes an alternative; flexibility and learning from others may be an Asian reaction. 

DJ, trump is further DECREASING !!!! US spending on education, healthcare...human rights in the US are a joke...Lots of better educated US citizens are LEAVING the US !

If the US wants to go for (maintaining) a #1 you need the brains...

But also the US needs allies...and both the EU and UK (Japan, Korea is NOT "the west") "love to hate trump"...If there were polls sympathie for China may be growing, even Putin may be more popular in Europe then trump...

EU/UK politics can no longer "sell" being involved in US (provoked) wars...

China and the EU will increase talks, very likely will increase trade. The EU may be spending more on "war" however NOT on US weapons...

A basic ingredient for economy is trust...and trump managed to destroy that basic trust by acting like an idiot...Keeping the US #1 may have been a long term goal but Obama may have been the last US president with a realistic strategy for that goal...
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DJ, BRICS+ by now know the US is going for more confrontation. The strategy is to make the US less capable for fighting (major) wars...

-De-dollar-ization was NOT a goal in itself-but an outcome of US sanctions on Russia.
-Asia is a big mass of land-linked with Europe and Africa...US navy/air force only has limited usage there...
-Why should ANY country do bussinesses-based on debts-with a country that disrespect you ? 

A Russian anti-tank weapon in battlefield use did do a "better" job while the costs were 5% of the same kind of US anti-tank weapon...The US idea of "isolating" enemies one by one is wrong...It did not work with Russia, will not work with Iran...will backfire hard on the US with China...

A basic idea behind BRICS+ is creating "win-win" scenario's...NOT dominance but trust...

The "west" replaced colonialism exploitation by neo-colonial exploitation...NOT "win-win" but a 0,1% getting very rich with ALL of the rest getting more poor...

Since the BASIC problem is in the west it is OUR job to do better...