That's arguable. If you're in an unequal relationship the best way to go about them is to reset them to a base equal state and then build the relationship again.
"Equal" is a very relative concept, and trying to move from unequal to that in a month or two after decades of having a reputation of being a stable partner is only going to make it more difficult.
The US has been vocal about Europe having to spend more on defense as part of NATO. Yet most countries didn't, preferring to spend the money on other things. Governments of the largest European economies have been so full of themselves, yet now their strongest ally is asking them to actually deliver.
I understand that for Europeans this might cause a negative reaction, but the reaction is pure emotion, not an attempt to understand both sides of the partnership.
The current administration has been pushing things very fast, that is true. Maybe too fast. But it is also refreshing to see that you can get rid of bureaucracy if there is a strong will.
And let's not forget that the change in the US administration has had a direct impact on the debate around de-regulation and making the business environment in the EU more friendly for entrepreneurs and new business. But it came only as a reaction to what Trump is doing, not as part of a clear strategy or execution plan.
Uhm, you did notice the threats of invasion and annexation to allies, didn't you? This is not "more closely defending interests", this is a 180° change of policy after half a century. Maybe this feels like some minor issue to you, but generally, countries take direct threats to their sovereignity extremely seriously.
And the thing is - while Europe didn't do the whole "growth above all" thing in recent years, it still has the best median quality of life in the entire world. Maybe there is a point, where it's just good enough?
Maybe the price of eternal exponential growth is too high.
I've been hearing those doomsday "europe is going to get destroyed economically" stories for my entire life. Yet the median quality of life and other societal markers kept going up.
Do you really not notice what you are doing to supposed allies, without whom the US is essentially nothing? This is a two way street. And without protection from the US, why should american outstanding political influence be a thing anymore? The US and its citizens aren't special, just one country among many others now.
Even if that were true, closely defending the interests of the US conflicts with defending the interests of the EU.
Besides, the example of the sanctions to the ICC provide a concrete case of unacceptable risk due to the new US policies. Even assuming that sanctioning the ICC in favour of Israel is defending the interests of the US.
> The only thing that has changed since the latest elections in the US is that there is a government that more closely defends the interests of the US.
This is a huge understatement of the current political situation in the US, where old allies are suddenly being treated extremely unfriendly and where stability is no longer something you can count on given how quickly the situation has deteriorated since Trump took office. While it is allegedly being done to "more closely defend the interests of the US" the ends may not justify the means.
We don't have an issue with the approach on a fundamental level here in the EU, but we would have liked this move to have been made in a more progressive fashion, as it makes the US look like a very unpredictable commercial & military partner.
> Getting rid of good relationships with the US will weaken European tech (and not just tech) even more.
Forcing EU to improve their own tech and military development is something that is being done in response to the US' lack of predictability, nobody's being "fooled" by talking heads, people just generally love the feeling of safety and predictability.
I'd like to understand why you're assuming this will weaken European tech though - what is this based on specifically? We can develop our own versions of anything you make in the US, we have the engineers and the US is no longer really leading even in AI initiatives thanks to the Chinese open sourcing their AI tech.
This comment makes me think of the Gell-Mann amnesia effect but applied to comments. If I was unaware of what has been happening for the past few weeks I would find this comment reasonable and well nuanced. I realize that many times I read something on hn on a subject I know almost nothing about and leave thinking I've learned something.
