Summary
Carlos Slim’s telecom giant, América Móvil, canceled $22 billion in planned Starlink orders after Elon Musk insinuated Slim had ties to drug cartels.
The decision, made within hours of Musk’s tweet, costs Musk his main partner in 25 countries and shifts business to Chinese and European competitors, further reducing U.S. commercial influence.
Musk’s increasing political entanglements and conspiracy-laden posts are alienating key business partners and consumers, with potential ripple effects on Tesla sales.
Hopefully. For all the tragedy of his presidency, Orange Menace actually brought endless opportunities for us to unite and become properly Independent.
Am I the only one that’s not worried about the future? As a non-American I mean, it feels like we’re about to have more global unity and prosperity entirely at the expense of America, whereby it’ll become the futures new “No Man’s Land” of proxy-wars, weapons testing, and religious fundamentalism to satiate the MIC while everywhere else gets to make new trade partnerships and are free to explore more political possibilities without having to pay their dues to Uncle Sam.
Maybe i’m being too optimistic, but it sorta feels like the winds are blowing towards a new global alliance of Europe and NATO teaming up with China, purposefully excluding and at the expense of Russia and USA. Feels like the Cold War superpowers have both lost, Russia successfully defeating USA but not without collapsing themselves too. Almost as though this war in Ukraine was just part of the mechanism to collapse the USA/EU Atlantic alliance, and the war can only be over once Russia and USA are through.
You are forgetting that China and Russia are friends, and always have been. Sure, they have their dust-ups, but it’s never serious. Last summer they were having combined wargames along the Alaska/Canadian coast, and Russian and Chinese jets flew close enough to have our air command nervous. At the same time Russia was touting their alliance with North Korea.
I think the US will leave NATO, but NATO will not align with China. Instead, there will be a new alliance, and America will join Russia, China, North Korea, and a few others (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Hungary, Turkey, etc.) in a new Axis Of Evil.
I don’t know where you get your info, but China and Russia have a frenemy relationship, a friendly rivalry, basically. This goes back to Stalin’s limited support for the CCP in their early days, or even before when the Russian Tsar conquered huge swaths of land from the Qing Dynasty during their Century of Humiliation, about the time when we Americans were busy having our Civil War. We see it to this day, where China could have a huge and decisive effect on the Russo-Ukrainian War if they wished and fully threw in with Russia, but instead are happy to sit back and war profiteer while Russia takes heavy loses and the West spends money instead of making it.
Then Iran and Saudi Arabia are archenemies. Iran is a Shia-majority theocracy, SA is a Sunni-majority secular monarchy with a history of persecuting Shias, and even warming up to Israel before Oct 7th. They have a long history of conflict.
Not sure how Turkey gets on the list either, Turkey has consistently played both sides, always being in it for Turkey. I don’t see the benefit for them to actually pick a side, thus losing their benefits from the other. We see this clearly, again, in how they’ve approached the Russo-Ukrainian War. Like cozying up to Putin, but hey, have some free Bayraktars, Ukraine!
I know a lot of people put a lot of effort into trying to make it seem like a real WW3 with fairly even sides is plausible in the near future, but it always requires a lot of cherry picking and ignoring realities for them to spin their stories together.
I’m likely not well informed enough to know for sure, but from what I’ve been gathering is that China Russia relations are more or less based on weapons deals while otherwise remaining neutral and shakey at best. As in they’re sort of “fair weather friends” but I think China has a better future in weapons deals with a United Europe and a collapsing USA and Russia Vs. a future with a collapsing Russia and the likes of Iran or Hungary (Turkey is NATO btw). China certainly wouldn’t approach Europe with a deal, but rather I feel like China is in the position to choose between deals that are coming to them, and while China is certainly not an ideal Big Daddy I feel like they’d do a better job at overseeing more peaceful relations with themselves on top instead of America. Iran and North Korea would get a better deal out of it too than this new Axis of Evil you’re proposing. Everyone just wants USA to collapse so they can get on with their countries without USA’s meddling interference schemes and paying dues to Uncle Sam, that alone would placate a lot of these “Evil Countries” to be more willing and able to be less “evil”. It’s not a solution but it’s progress.
AGAIN i’m most likely wrong, would like to be enlightened further if anyones got some good reads/vids for me.
That is a bit too optimistic, though only by a little. China is still an immoral authoritarian state, and the EU should definetly not overdo any possible deals with them, as not to get dependant on yet another bully. The cheeto man may still straight up team up with his russian overlords and try to screw us in the butts. However, if we play the cards right, stay united, and keep russian-funded politicians away from our parliments, we just might come up on top.
Unfortunately I feel like this is unavoidable, but isn’t China a lesser evil? I mean instead of doing what USA is doing by foreign meddling and destabilizing for profit, China is actually making proactive relations to help build up countries (for profit) rather than exploit them, China Africa relations for instance. I also think the China Africa relations is a huge factor that isn’t considered enough, as China certainly offers a better deal for Africa than America or Russia’s Wagner gold-mine psychos are offering. USA and Russia appear to be in the business of isolating themselves and will suffer for it like every country in history does. Iran and North Korea could be placated by better trade agreements that could be facilitated by China. Africa is rising fast, thanks to China’s help. China’s rising fast, and are building more positive relations than negative. Even their politics and social progressiveness is becoming less authoritarian, and is currently a more progressive place than America is. Europe has a better chance of being more progressive under China than it has been under America. Again, I agree that China isn’t ideal and is certainly a bully, they just simply offer a better deal.
100% agree, but in our current reality of being a global digital village Europe can’t just unite amongst themselves to be part of the future, they have to make relations with everyone. The geopolitical landscape is moving at breakneck speeds right now, it’s fascinating to watch, mostly because now more than ever it looks like anything is possible (for better or for worse.) If I were to think about what’s in Europe, China, Middle East, and Global South’s best interests are is to unite in a way that was previously impossible due to America Russia tensions. Whether it be a new Russia/USA Axis, an isolated USA and/or Russia, or both (which I believe without confidence is happening just looks that way) it is in everyones best interest to create a new global partnership without USA and Russia, at the expense of USA and Russia.
Nicely put. I would just add that while China is indeed a lesser evil at the moment, so was the USA once. Being dependant on anyone WILL come back and bite the Union in the ass every single time. Might take 10 years, might take a 100, but it will. I would advise extreeme caution.
That’s an excellent point. Trump is replacing all the competent people with loyalists, without remembering a basic fact: It is better to keep your potential enemy inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.
All he has done is force all of his most competent leaders to join the opposition, as well as tens of thousands of inside operatives who are now unemployed, but know better than anyone how the system operates. There are are also a lot of people still on the inside, who hate what has happened to their workplace and their colleagues, and won’t be so compliant. They’ll be perfect moles for any espionage/sabotage.
Eventually they’ll get organized, and it will be the competent, motivated Patriots against the treasonous MAGA morons.