To those familiar with the recent EU-US deal, can you find a materialist reason for European political elites to see the deal as a power move on their part?
Here are the explanations I’ve seen so far
1-Ends trade war instability so they’re happy, even with a pre-emptive defeat.
2-Their personal wealth is based on the EUR and GBP being an integral part of the dollar system. Their loyalty is primarily to dollar hegemony and American oligarchs provide the ideological apparatus that sustains their rule
3-Fracture between national political elites and their predecessors who they kicked upstairs to be Eurocrats, with the latter trying to leverage whatever they can to burn the former regardless of consequence (you can find plenty of national elites that support this shit though)
4-Post-Maastricht integration failed to forge the cohesive transnational class capable of interest articulation. The mental result is mindless Atlanticism on every level
5-They self-consciously view themselves as local satraps within global US empire. There’s no way for them to stand up to American aggression. By definition.
6-Nothing complicated. Simply put, Europe thrives on American demand, and there’s no alternative that isn’t a half leap into the void. You settle for an emperor who raises your tariffs and hope he doesn’t crush you.
Which one/ones do you think it is, do you have your own theory and how is your day going? Feel free too only answer that last one
Here are the explanations I’ve seen so far
1-Ends trade war instability so they’re happy, even with a pre-emptive defeat.
2-Their personal wealth is based on the EUR and GBP being an integral part of the dollar system. Their loyalty is primarily to dollar hegemony and American oligarchs provide the ideological apparatus that sustains their rule
3-Fracture between national political elites and their predecessors who they kicked upstairs to be Eurocrats, with the latter trying to leverage whatever they can to burn the former regardless of consequence (you can find plenty of national elites that support this shit though)
4-Post-Maastricht integration failed to forge the cohesive transnational class capable of interest articulation. The mental result is mindless Atlanticism on every level
5-They self-consciously view themselves as local satraps within global US empire. There’s no way for them to stand up to American aggression. By definition.
6-Nothing complicated. Simply put, Europe thrives on American demand, and there’s no alternative that isn’t a half leap into the void. You settle for an emperor who raises your tariffs and hope he doesn’t crush you.
Which one/ones do you think it is, do you have your own theory and how is your day going? Feel free too only answer that last one
I’d argue it’s a combination of all of the above.
I think it’s #6 and the fact that it’s the importers who pay the tariff and optionally pass the cost on to American consumers.
I think that most of the goods that got imported from the EU, will continue to get imported because either they are:
All of them in various combinations.