This question for me is how much the next four years will impact, or in a worst case scenario, dismantle the 5 Eyes community. That construct survived the first four years. With a step up in pace and vindictiveness now becoming apparent, at what stage will non US partners begin to withhold cooperation due to a lack of trust. Would you share intelligence of you knew it would be available to Musk and his cronies?
In a similar way, military cooperation has almost always transcended the political; the language and rhetoric this time round appears destined to impact age-old friendships and alliances. It’s an awful state of affairs.
We just have to hope that America’s love of litigation holds up some of the most devastating and globally impactful executive orders.
Very valid comments. I don't think Trump is interested in true partnership - when it comes to leadership he is more akin to the Soviet Union's dominance of the Warsaw Pact than the 'first among equals' NATO.
I can't see how we are going to maintain the former style of mil co-op you describe, and the new America First transactionalism will force us down the same road.
That’s my fear. At the end of the day, military folk follow orders. With a new breed of civilian leadership (lacking any strategic understanding of the world) calling the shots, those lower down the stack, assuming they haven’t been hounded out of the military, will have little wriggle room. At least the Five Eyes community has more latitude to retain crucial intelligence sources and connections. They are, after all, masters of the dark arts.
Mark, the playbook for this was written a century ago. So much so that it would appear that all of those who surround Trump have just put it through a 'spell check' and revised the dates. It seems to me that all we can realistically do is to watch from afar, factually report and advise where we can and, in the same way as we are having to do vis post-Brexit, learn to live without the US, if that is, we wish to remain the Britain that we know and respect. . I am afraid to say that this 'internal combustion' has been decades in the making and will get worse. I have many friends in the US whom I will maintain contact with and periodically reassure that I am here if they need help or support. Like some fires and bar-fights often the best way to deal with them is to shut the doors and let them burn itself or wear itself out.
I'm afraid the post-war security partnership is coming to an end, and the sooner we get used to the idea the better. The purge that's ongoing shows that even those within the system who still support the 'old way' will keep their head down.
This question for me is how much the next four years will impact, or in a worst case scenario, dismantle the 5 Eyes community. That construct survived the first four years. With a step up in pace and vindictiveness now becoming apparent, at what stage will non US partners begin to withhold cooperation due to a lack of trust. Would you share intelligence of you knew it would be available to Musk and his cronies?
In a similar way, military cooperation has almost always transcended the political; the language and rhetoric this time round appears destined to impact age-old friendships and alliances. It’s an awful state of affairs.
We just have to hope that America’s love of litigation holds up some of the most devastating and globally impactful executive orders.
Very valid comments. I don't think Trump is interested in true partnership - when it comes to leadership he is more akin to the Soviet Union's dominance of the Warsaw Pact than the 'first among equals' NATO.
I can't see how we are going to maintain the former style of mil co-op you describe, and the new America First transactionalism will force us down the same road.
That’s my fear. At the end of the day, military folk follow orders. With a new breed of civilian leadership (lacking any strategic understanding of the world) calling the shots, those lower down the stack, assuming they haven’t been hounded out of the military, will have little wriggle room. At least the Five Eyes community has more latitude to retain crucial intelligence sources and connections. They are, after all, masters of the dark arts.
Spot on Mark. Sadly!
Mark, the playbook for this was written a century ago. So much so that it would appear that all of those who surround Trump have just put it through a 'spell check' and revised the dates. It seems to me that all we can realistically do is to watch from afar, factually report and advise where we can and, in the same way as we are having to do vis post-Brexit, learn to live without the US, if that is, we wish to remain the Britain that we know and respect. . I am afraid to say that this 'internal combustion' has been decades in the making and will get worse. I have many friends in the US whom I will maintain contact with and periodically reassure that I am here if they need help or support. Like some fires and bar-fights often the best way to deal with them is to shut the doors and let them burn itself or wear itself out.
I'm afraid the post-war security partnership is coming to an end, and the sooner we get used to the idea the better. The purge that's ongoing shows that even those within the system who still support the 'old way' will keep their head down.