More in depth thread here, including anti-sub helicopters monitoring Russia’s Baltic fleet for the ten hours preceding and two hours after the explosion

  • counsel [none/use name]
    hexbear
    45
    2 years ago

    The Nordstream 2 pipeline is super important. All pipelines are. They deliver energy, and energy is political power.

    It was going to make Europe dependent on Russia, and the unelected government in DC can't have that. Europe might get ideas like they don't need NATO, or antagonizing Russia isn't in their interest. Even fucking Donald Trump got Merkel to agree to build a gas terminal to receive American natural gas. Biden cancelled it, obviously, because fuck everything that man ever did.

      • counsel [none/use name]
        hexbear
        24
        2 years ago

        It's the Mackinder Thesis. America cannot allow Europe and Asia to grow together. Because we need to conquer the globe! Like it's a game of Risk! The goal is to destroy all the other armies and put your troops in every single territory! But in Risk it's plastic pieces. In our world, it's real.

      • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
        hexbear
        23
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        But by forcing the matter, Washington has driven Russia even further into the arms of Chinese industry and technology, which in many areas matches (or even exceeds) European ones, and with better economies of scale.

        Good job, Murica.

        • MolotovHalfEmpty [he/him]
          hexbear
          16
          2 years ago

          Yeah, but despite their sabre rattling the US can't traditionally take on China or Russia. But despite its industrial strength (the bit the US wants to carve up for itself) Europe is weak. Full of competing interests and alligances that can be exploited. No real unified military beyond what they already control via NATO. Dependent on Russia for energy (which the US has now severed) and even big nations like France are heavily dependent on their exploitation of Africa, which the US has also just spent the last decade dramatically increasingly their influence, military and intelligence presence in.