Three sides of the same coin: $CHN, $RUS, $IRN.
You can't be Russia-worried while being China's largest trading partner. Pick a lane.
I want full decoupling — deeper than most are willing to discuss. Remake Cold War alliances. Zero dependency on the bad guys.
Why won't it happen? Money. People love Chinese money and pretend it's different from Iranian or Russian money. Also: rewiring global supply chains costs real money. You have to pick allies, enforce rules, and stop the drift. Psychology problem too — Europe got MBAs in "degrowth" but dealing with China and Russia requires building. Lots of building. The West stopped making stuff, so China did.
Biggest illusion: words matter more than capabilities. You can't counter China, Russia, Iran by rewording a Tweet. What matters: money, guns, capabilities. Rerouting trade. Rebuilding supply chains. Not PR, not Trump word-parsing, not European statements.
Tangible > symbolic. Always.
You can't be Russia-worried while being China's largest trading partner. Pick a lane.
I want full decoupling — deeper than most are willing to discuss. Remake Cold War alliances. Zero dependency on the bad guys.
Why won't it happen? Money. People love Chinese money and pretend it's different from Iranian or Russian money. Also: rewiring global supply chains costs real money. You have to pick allies, enforce rules, and stop the drift. Psychology problem too — Europe got MBAs in "degrowth" but dealing with China and Russia requires building. Lots of building. The West stopped making stuff, so China did.
Biggest illusion: words matter more than capabilities. You can't counter China, Russia, Iran by rewording a Tweet. What matters: money, guns, capabilities. Rerouting trade. Rebuilding supply chains. Not PR, not Trump word-parsing, not European statements.
Tangible > symbolic. Always.