by Bill Joslin
Under a unipolar world (US exceptionalism) satellite states, it as I call them vassal states, play an important role. Vassals are proxies for US to do what the US can’t directly.
Inversely vassals play a role for secondary players for the same reason.
Trump is forcing a return to a multi-variable world (which is what Putin and China have been advocating – mutlipilar world under international law – internationalist opposed to globalists.
So in one hand trump is saying to the vassals “we don’t need you anymore, it cost more to retain you then the benefits you proivde.
And the rest try to poise themselves a soveriegn nations on equal footing when they have never been anything but vassals at the heel of a king – they’ve never really been soveriegn – only had the pretense of it in exchange for fealty to the empire (for Canada, to England first than a shift to the US in 1957 – for the rest under NATO etc).
Here’s the thing – many nations.may fall in standard of living, but in exchange gain an opportunity to actually be soveriegn nations operating in reality versus vassal states living in pretense.