No. of Recommendations: 30
"We don't care.
Nobody cares.
No American lies awake at night worrying what other countries think about us." - rayvt
For one, LOL that you think you speak for all Americans. You don't. Especially not the rational ones. For two, I said the word "trusts", you changed it into "thinks about". That changes the conversation a bit.
"The thing about being the big dog is that de facto is what actually matters in the real world.
If some country accounts for 25% of the world's trade, then that defines who is the big dog. Currently that's the USA." - rayvt
Did it even occur to you to think about WHY the U.S. is the big dog that accounts for so much of the world's trade? Do you think maybe if the U.S. stops doing the things that got it to be the big dog that maybe it will eventually lose that title. The U.S. isn't some magical place that casts a spell over other countries and forces them to deal with the U.S.
"Various European politicians have been saying "US President {insert name of current president} has upset us and is no longer the leader of the free world" ever since WW2." - rayvt
Ok. Please point to a speech in the last 65 years by any major politician of any major European county saying that the U.S. is no longer the leader of the free world. Go ahead. I bet you can't because I think you just made that up.
"I had a great High School history teacher that said, "Some people don't like me. So what? They can go find somebody else to like."" - rayvt
You realize that you are making your opponent's point with that comment, right? What do you think happens when everyone else goes finds someone else to trade with, to share intelligence with, to go partner for defense with?
"I always ponder what's the meaning of "the world no longer trusts America." In concrete terms, just what does that mean? What effect does that have in the real world? What do they do differently?"
It means that no country will ever make an agreement\treaty with the U.S. because the U.S. cannot be counted on to keep it's word. During Trump's first term, Trump had to renegotiate NAFTA with Canada and Mexico because the original treaty was expiring. He did so. Then one of the first things he does during his second term is put tariffs in place on Canada and Mexico that goes against the treaty he negotiated. If the U.S. is going to ignore trade agreements it negotiates, why would any other country ever enter into a trade agreement with the U.S.?
The U.S. and many of the major European countries entered into a nuclear agreement with Iran that put all sorts of restrictions on its nuclear program. Trump broke that agreement when entering office the first time. Now Trump is desperately trying to come to some agreement with Iran to stop its nuclear program. Iran refuses. Why should Iran re-negotiate something it had already negotiated and was living up to only to have the U.S. back out of? There is no point in negotiating with the U.S. since the U.S. won't live up to it's word. So now Trump's only option to influence Iran is the threat of force. The threat of force will probably work this time, but in terms of international diplomacy, threat of force is the most expensive, most dangerous option. Furthermore, it only works if other countries think the U.S. will follow through and it only works if used rarely.
"The US (most probably) blew up the Nordstream pipeline in 2022, harming Germany, etc. tremendously. What did Germany, etc. do to the US about that? Did they start distrusting the US then? "
You make stuff up. No wonder you have a distorted view of the world. You make up fantasies.
"They trusted the US after that? And only started to distrust the US when DOGE shut down USAID?"
Stop thinking in binary. Also, you should actually listen to the arguments your opponents are actually making rather than just argue against your silly summaries.
