My view is that ever since Trump effectively said that the F35 could be dumbed down at any time, most countries would be very hesitant about buying complex military equipment from the USA.
Who wants to entrust the safe operation of their military equipment to the whims of an erratic would be autocrat?
Why does the NYT keep publishing articles that make it look like Ukraine is losing the war? I don’t get much useful coverage of Ukraine at all from the Times anymore - it almost seems they have a pro Russia bent?
Hi Shankar, how do you account for India’s enthusiastic order for so many Rafales when they didn’t do so well against Pakistan’s aircraft in May when 3-5 were shot down over their own territory?
It was a difficult mission.. And a lot went wrong at the planning stage I heard. Less to do with Rafales and more to do with mistakes during the mission and planning.
Macron must move because all of Europe must move. Trump is effectively giving Putin a continuing lifeline. That must be stopped, and shown to be over by the EU. There is little except Ukraine to stop incursions anywhere and the moment. You have indicated previously Poland’s frightening unpreparedness. Putin can do serious damage at the present moment.
This dovetails nicely with the more macro assessments under discussion that the key to the West's survival vis a possible BRICS alignment is scalability. The Western alliance, even with the Trump-authored erratic participation of the US, must look to opportunities to scale across the alliance if it is to sustain necessary military and economic dominance.
Looping India into a scalable alliance with Europe seems like the right move at the right time. So yeah, "Move Macron, move!"
This prescription for France's behavior requires that France rethink its traditional foreign relations posture. Have I read France correctly? And: Are they up to it? Especially in short order...
My view is that ever since Trump effectively said that the F35 could be dumbed down at any time, most countries would be very hesitant about buying complex military equipment from the USA.
Who wants to entrust the safe operation of their military equipment to the whims of an erratic would be autocrat?
No country who cares about their own defense should do business with the USA until sanity is restored. It may take a while.
Agreed. I believe Canada is also going to take their F-35 business elsewhere.
The Art of the Deal indeed!
Lol.
Thank you Shankar. In 101 I called him Master of Disaster. It's still true
Why does the NYT keep publishing articles that make it look like Ukraine is losing the war? I don’t get much useful coverage of Ukraine at all from the Times anymore - it almost seems they have a pro Russia bent?
Hi Shankar, how do you account for India’s enthusiastic order for so many Rafales when they didn’t do so well against Pakistan’s aircraft in May when 3-5 were shot down over their own territory?
It was a difficult mission.. And a lot went wrong at the planning stage I heard. Less to do with Rafales and more to do with mistakes during the mission and planning.
Thanks Shankar, there had to be some mitigating factor. Good for France and potentially for Europe as you surmised.
Trump may not have mastered the Art of the Deal; however, I believe he definitely read Sun Tzu:
“An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes.”
And here we are!…:)
Macron must move because all of Europe must move. Trump is effectively giving Putin a continuing lifeline. That must be stopped, and shown to be over by the EU. There is little except Ukraine to stop incursions anywhere and the moment. You have indicated previously Poland’s frightening unpreparedness. Putin can do serious damage at the present moment.
Excellent assessment and recommendations.
This dovetails nicely with the more macro assessments under discussion that the key to the West's survival vis a possible BRICS alignment is scalability. The Western alliance, even with the Trump-authored erratic participation of the US, must look to opportunities to scale across the alliance if it is to sustain necessary military and economic dominance.
Looping India into a scalable alliance with Europe seems like the right move at the right time. So yeah, "Move Macron, move!"
Trump’s a great business man? He has already alienated 2.8 BILLION customers of US goods and services (China and India)
I thought Putin was on the back foot? What’s up?
This prescription for France's behavior requires that France rethink its traditional foreign relations posture. Have I read France correctly? And: Are they up to it? Especially in short order...
Haven't seen anything in that direction . I hope the two orders wakes them up. No where closer to how committed tge Germans are.
has marcon got much on his plate to think this thing through
It just happened on its own. More to do with Trump than him. He needs to move.