(I know I should keep my non-writing thoughts to myself, especially the spicy ones. My website should be gentle and kind, filled with posts that inspire people to buy my books. But I love my opinions: I LOVE THEM. Even though I do not research them, and I will change them at the drop of a hat. So if you’re put off by rash geo-polical rambling, please skip this post.)
After World War 2, there was a consensus in Western civilization that empires were inherently wrong, and would be relegated to the past. Europe as a whole had been in constant conflict between competing imperial powers for a couple thousand years. This was a chance to stop the cycle of military buildup, confrontation, and destruction, and they took it. Not that Europe had much choice. They graciously allowed the U.S.A. to be the guarantor of peace on the continent and they put aside their territorial grievances through complicated diplomacy instead of warfare.
Both sides of the political spectrum agreed to this change in perception. For example, the U.S. Right referred to the U.S.S.R. as the “evil empire” while the U.S. Left called all American interventionism “imperialism”. And for decades, that consensus has been dominant. (Imperialism was re-labeled Colonialism in recent years, but the sentiment is the same.) The U.S.S.R. collapsed under its own weight, the natural death spiral of all aging empires. And the former Western empires slowly divested themselves of their territories and colonies.
But there was a mistaken assumption that the negative perception of empires as outdated and wrong meant Imperialism was dead would be forgotten. The idea of empire in the West was alive but in a deep sleep. And in such sleep it dreamed darkly. The dream of empire surfaces into our collective consciousness occasionally. Remember when women on social media were astounded that men think about the Roman Empire frequently? Well they ain’t thinking about Rome because they love the look of togas. (Full disclaimer: I am one of those dudes that thinks about Rome almost every single day).
But the opponents of the West did not sleep. ISIS tried to build a multi-national caliphate, and continues to use horrifying, brutal violence around the world. Iran manipulates the Middle East via its murderous puppets like Hamas, Houthis and Hezbollah. Russia launched its bloody war on Ukraine, while working to undermine other Eastern European countries. Africa is in a continual upheaval as nations, tribes and religious factions fight for dominance. China took Tibet, and now looks to reclaim Taiwan.
This is the world that America finds itself in. My guess is that they are sincere when they talk about the imminent danger posed by China. And in a scenario that has the U.S. in direct conflict with China, there is currently a possibility that the U.S. loses. They don’t have the capacity to rapidly scale up their ammunition and war machine production to match China’s massive manufacturing advantage.
And now they have a presidential administration that rejects the established political consensus. They feel like their allies take them for granted, and are more liability than asset. These U.S.’s “allies” have let their own militaries atrophy, spending the bare minimum on national defense while talking about how important they are to America. Europe should have been building their armies over the last 4 decades, but it was easier to let it slide and assume America would save them. Every flavour of Canadian politician has underfunded the Canadian Armed forces, despite being told time and time again by every American administration that we needed to start pulling our weight.
So they are taking matters into their own hands. The tariffs are meant to force reshoring of manufacturing and self-sufficiency. They believe that Greenland is a strategic asset that would be beneficial to be under control of America, as an example. They don’t care that you think empires are bad. In a speech about space exploration, Trump used the phrase “manifest destiny”. This is the belief that America has the right to expand and take over the continent and beyond. In other words: an empire.
I don’t want you to mistake this half-baked analysis as a glowing endorsement for America’s actions. Everything the Trump admin does is sloppy, rushed, and needlessly cruel. I don’t think the tariffs will work, and the will cause a lot of financial pain across the globe. But its unhelpful to think all of these decisions are being made on a whim to suit the demented dreams of one crackpot. There is a vision behind it all, and that vision is shared by all the people involved in the Executive branch.
As an aside, the China threat theory explains some of the harshness towards Canada. Canada has a worrying inability to free itself from Chinese government influence and interference. We have illegal Chinese police stations, voter/citizen intimidation, and thriving Chinese organized crime syndicates that include Fentanyl production and distribution in their portfolio. Our Federal government has been alarmingly resistant to addressing these issues. Add to that our lax border control and inability to keep track of non-citizens in our country, and you can see why America doesn’t see us as their super-best friend anymore.
Chris Loblaw, Author 