Der neue SPIEGEL ist da! Im Titelartikel geht es um den schweren Schaden, den US-Präsident Trump dem transatlantischen Verhältnis zugefügt hat. Außerdem im Heft: Wie leicht es ist, in Hotelzimmer einzubrechen. Ab morgen am Kiosk, digital jetzt hier: https://t.co/q7A0AVf6yd pic.twitter.com/DWVOTtrncj
— DER SPIEGEL (@DerSPIEGEL) May 11, 2018
Der Spiegel’s editors have sussed out the Trump Doctrine. That the President expects that he, and as an extension of himself the US, will be treated “fairly or else”. From Der Spiegel’s Klaus Brinkbaumer:
The most shocking realization, however, is one that affects us directly: The West as we once knew it no longer exists. Our relationship to the United States cannot currently be called a friendship and can hardly be referred to as a partnership. President Trump has adopted a tone that ignores 70 years of trust. He wants punitive tariffs and demands obedience. It is no longer a question as to whether Germany and Europe will take part in foreign military interventions in Afghanistan or Iraq. It is now about whether trans-Atlantic cooperation on economic, foreign and security policy even exists anymore. The answer: No. It is impossible to overstate what Trump has dismantled in the last 16 months. Europe has lost its protective power. It has lost its guarantor of joint values. And it has lost the global political influence that it was only able to exert because the U.S. stood by its side. And what will happen in the remaining two-and-a-half years (or six-and-a-half years) of Trump’s leadership? There is plenty of time left for further escalation.
Every Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., senior DER SPIEGEL editors gather to discuss the lead editorial of the week and ultimately, the meeting seeks to address the question: “What now?” Simply describing a problem isn’t enough, a good editorial should point to potential solutions. It has rarely been as quiet as during this week’s meeting.
Europe should begin preparing for a post-Trump America and seek to avoid provoking Washington until then. It can demonstrate to Iran that it wishes to hold on to the nuclear deal and it can encourage mid-sized companies without American clients to continue doing business with Iranian partners. Perhaps the EU will be able to find ways to protect larger companies. Europe should try to get the United Nations to take action, even if it would only be symbolic given that the U.S. holds a Security Council veto. For years, Europe has been talking about developing a forceful joint foreign policy, and it has become more necessary than ever. But what happens then?
The difficulty will be finding a balance between determination and tact. Triumphant anti-Americanism is just as dangerous as defiance. But subjugation doesn’t lead anywhere either – because Europe cannot support policies that it finds dangerous. Donald Trump also has nothing but disdain for weakness and doesn’t reward it.
Clever resistance is necessary, as sad and absurd as that may sound. Resistance against America.
Combine this with Chancellor Merkel’s recent statements,
#BREAKING Europe can no longer rely on US 'to protect it': Merkel
— AFP news agency (@AFP) May 10, 2018
as well her remarks which I wrote about here last May when describing how the President’s preferences had brought the American century to and end after 72 years.
The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I’ve experienced that in the last few days.
We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands.
and you can begin to see that Chancellor Merkel has fully realized that the US is, at best, an unreliable ally for the foreseeable future.
The outstanding question right now is what is Chancellor Merkel actually going to do. Will she be able to pull in French President Macron and leverage the EU as a counterweight? Does she have the political will, let alone political capital, to increase Germany’s defense sector spending to compensate for the vacuum being created from the President’s longstanding hostilities to America’s allies and partners and his belief that they are taking advantage of us, ripping us off, and laughing at us. Does she have the political capital within the EU to be able to get France and other EU member states to also step up their defense sector spending? And can she do this without making it look like she’s doing it to both oppose the President who doesn’t actually want a strong, unified EU as a counterweight and seem like she’s leading the way to appease the President’s oft stated, but largely inaccurate statements about NATO member spending. Can this be done as Britain lurches its way through Brexit? And can it be done while Putin continues his active measures campaign and cyberwarfare against the US, the EU, and other states?
Chancellor Merkel and President Macron have their work cut out for them. They and their teams have to quickly figure out how to navigate a rebalancing of both the global system and the Western Alliance that has underpinned it since the end of World War II. There is no doubt that the global system needs to be reconceptualized. That is needs to be rebalanced. That the post World War II and post Cold War system are out of date. The complication here, what really makes it a wicked problem, is that because of who the President is and what he beliefs and what his preferences are, this reconceptualization and rebalancing is not being done in a thoughtful and proactive way. It does not include discussions between allies, partners, and even peer competitors to work out the most feasible, acceptable, and suitable – even if it is not the most optimal (perfect) – solution to reconceptualizing and rebalancing the global system to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. Ordinarily everyone would expect the US to take a leading role in this process. Instead, because of the President’s preferences for bilateral relations and unilateral actions, the US has accelerated and precipitated the need for this process while abdicating its role within in it. America first increasingly looks like America alone. And America alone will be costly not just for Americans, but for the rest of the world as well. The price to be paid for Making America great again…
Open thread!
* One final point: I am actually working on, if by working on we mean trying to wrap my head around, a book on the Trump Doctrine. Which will likely be titled The Trump Doctrine. So if any of you who have written and published books have suggestions on how to get this thing published, feel free to shoot me an email. The longest thing I’ve written in over a decade of work for the military is the 60 page or so cultural assessment of the operational environment for the Levant plus Iran.
kindness
Trumps biggest crap has been taken on America’s future with the rest of the world. No longer will another country feel that any treaty/agreement the US signs will be good for more than the length of time the then current inhabitant lives in the White House. Honestly I don’t blame them.
Putin wins again. This is where I want to thank Jill Stein & all the ‘liberals’ who couldn’t hold their nose and vote for the Democratic candidate. Me? I was happy to vote for Hillary.
Baud
Bullshit if they think they can chicken out now and wait for a Dem president to cash in their chips.
And fuck them for making me come within an inkling of appearing to side with Trump.
Teddys Person
Thanks so much for all your posts. They all help me make sense of the Trump chaos. Well, some of it anyway (the chaos not your posts).
Annie
The worst thing is that for Dolt45, “treated fairly” does not even mean fairness; it means “do what I say and kiss the hem of my garment while you do it.”
Baud
@kindness: As was I.
jo6pac
If the eu had any balls the would show Amerika the door and stay doing business Iran & Russia. Then again sadly they’ll fail into line and ruin their economy.
I voted Green and will do so in the future
Cheryl Rofer
Awww…When I saw the headline, I thought you would feature their latest cover!
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: I can add it if you like.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@jo6pac:
Then enjoy increasing irrevleance, because the Greens (in America) couldn’t organize a pissing contest.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: Updated with the image.
waysel
@kindness: As was I.
SiubhanDuinne
This entire post makes me want to weep as few other things have since election results came in on 08 November 2016.
This is just devasting.
Yarrow
@Cheryl Rofer: The cover is amazing.
Mary G
Let’s ignore the troll.
I thought the graphic Der Spiegel put on their cover was cool.
Adam, predicting what’s going to happen is hard, so I admire you for trying. I’m sure Twitler’s action will have unanticipated consequences no one has even considered yet.
piratedan
well, maybe you need to reconsider naming it the Putin Doctrine, because in no way do I believe that DJT has a coherent formulated “vision”, he exists in a total narcissistic state, everything and I mean everything is about HIM, HIS FEELINGS and how he thinks any action might portray him in regards to satisfying his sponsor.
SiubhanDuinne
@kindness:
@Baud:
I voted for Hillary in 2016 (twice!) without the slightest qualm. No nose-holding, no second-guessing. She was in every possible way the superior candidate.
Teddys Person
Someone needs to make a billboard out of that cover and plant it in Layfayette Square.
SiubhanDuinne
@jo6pac:
Your a moran.
TenguPhule
Every nation for itself.
What could possibly go wrong go wrong?
TenguPhule
@jo6pac:
You are a Russian and I claim my five pounds.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl Rofer:
Could you put up an image of the cover, please? TIA.
Adam L Silverman
@piratedan: Have you read my previous posts on this topic?
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: I don’t follow. If I ran another country I’d certainly be avoiding America where possible until a Democrat was back.
Yarrow
You might look at the Sunday’s Writers In Our Midst threads. Some have addressed publishing issues. Maybe not so much for that type of book but you might find something that is helpful.
On your book itself, isn’t it going to be kind of a short book since it’s going to say, “The Trump Doctrine: ‘Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, ME!” over and over?
Betty Cracker
If Trump’s odious, disgraceful presidency ends on a normal note, i.e., he is merely voted out after four years, and we go on as if his occupation of the Oval Office wasn’t an embarrassing aberration, it’s hard to see how America recovers its international standing, at least in our lifetimes.
Barbara
@Annie: It’s even worse than that. It means he has to see tangible proof that the other side is worse off. It definitely explains his plan for “reducing” drug costs — a win will be judged by whether others pay more. It’s no wonder he worships Putin.
TenguPhule
I am not liking this being the Germany of 1929.
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: I already did. I updated the post with it.
TenguPhule
@Betty Cracker:
And if it doesn’t, things can easily slide into WW III.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl Rofer:
@SiubhanDuinne:
@Adam L Silverman:
Thanks, Adam! That’s a terrific graphic.
Greenergood
Dear Mr Silverman – try and imagine what all this must mean for those of us who are undergoing the ridiculous situation of Brexit, where no one in Westminster knows what they’re doing – and then those of us here in Scotland, who are trying to escape Brexit and gain independence from the UK, and are seeing all the machinations of the ‘deep state’ and the MSM who are focused on thwarting any possibility of independence because Scotand ‘hosts’ the UK’s ‘independent’ nuclear ‘deterrent’ Trident submarines (opposed by 90% of the Scottish population), and also keeps the UK economy going because Scotland is where the UK’s oil comes from, that had been instrumental in keeping the UK economy from pretty much collapsing, especially when their banking establishments screw up on a regular basis.
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: Thank you, you’ve been a tremendous help. We appreciate your support.//
piratedan
@Adam L Silverman: no, are you new here? ///////////////
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: The way it’s written (or translated), they are proposing to hold their fire against us until Trump is gone. That has the perverse effect of validating Trump’s view that aggressive action is the only way we won’t be viewed as weak.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
What’s best for them is no longer what’s best for us.
We are watching the end of an age.
Yarrow
@Betty Cracker: Yep. We either deal with the traitors and the forces that got us to this point or we will not recover.
Another Scott
On the publishing thing, review the “Authors in our midst” threads. Lots of good pointers, and lots of good approaches, there.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
khead
This seems a bit…… pollyannish wth respect to the USA (post WWII to Trump). I’m not sure how many “allies, partners and even peer competitors” we’ve actually given a shit about that didn’t serve our interests.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
Welcome to total game theory.
Adam L Silverman
@Betty Cracker: There’s no going back, only through. As I have explained more times than I can count in high level planning meetings with US military and diplomatic personnel: there is no reestablishing what was normal before whatever event in whichever country we’re concerned with has happened. There will be an establishment of a new normal. That may be better. It may be worse. But it won’t be what was the minute before event X occurred.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: it’s clearly not in their best interests to avoidably provoke us. And it wouldn’t help us either.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
I can understand why they’re doing it. But I hope they realize that it’s not just Trump that is the problem but the entire American rightwing. They’ve become corrupted and compromised, through their own actions and those of states like Russia. It could easily happen to Germany as well. I hope Europeans understand that the Republican party is not the entire US.
Yutsano
@jo6pac:
This is your choice.
This is your right.
But if you don’t start trying for local and state offices, I reserve the right to mock you.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: I thought the writers threads suggestion at least was helpful.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: Then they have to keep on not provoking us after Trump is gone. Cuz the only Dem president who can take on all of Trump’s sin is a one-term Dem president.
Ohio Mom
@Yarrow: I remember their cover just after Trump was elected: a Trump fireball hurling straight to planet Earth.
We can be shocked by what Trump and his administration does, but never surprised, everyone knew how terrible he was, and would be, long before he was sworn in.
Sloane Ranger
@Baud: That seems to be the view of the UK Government too, based on BoJo’s statement to the House of Commons the day after Trump tore up the deal.
Of course this might be for public consumption while the experts scratch their heads for an alternative – if there is one.
The problem for the Tories is that a lot of their backbenchers actually agree with Trump’s action. He must have got fed up with all the carping from his own side about Britain staying in the deal because, at one point, he snapped at one of his fellow Tories something to the effect that if he had a better idea to stop Iran getting the Bomb he’d like to hear it, adding that he could forget bombing as all the experts say it wouldn’t work.
AliceBlue
@SiubhanDuinne:
While driving around doing errands today, I was stopped behind a car with a “Neither One in 2016” bumper sticker. I wanted to rear end it so badly.
DocSardonic
@jo6pac: Sometimes it is better to be silent and be thought a fuckwit, than engage ones keyboard and remove all doubt. Pie is fabulous, please do enjoy yours.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
Which would give Trump more cause for declaring martial law and drumming up aggression against other countries.
The EU is finding itself in Britain’s and France’s shoes in 1926, they’re nowhere close to ready to deal with a hostile US and all the forces it controls.
OzarkHillbilly
While I have “written and been published” (long story)(not a book)(never paid) I just want to say that “The Trump Doctrine” is a shit title. May I suggest something more accurately descriptive and poetic? Something like,
“lsdezhtzlshzl;SKhnZA WRhZAWROhAWRik!!!!!!!”
Uncle Cosmo
Let’s see – purity-pony is to horse as veal is to beef, right? I’ve heard interesting things about horsemeat. Fire up the bone saws! Purity-pony parmigiana comin’ up!
debbie
I needed Google Translate to tell me what was in Der Spiegel’s tweet. I love the smooth transition from Trump’s damage to easy hotel room break-in instructions.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: you’ve lost me again. When the US has a government that Germany can do difficult things with again, they will. In the meantime, as a rational actor, Merkel is not going to do something that will not benefit her now or in the future.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major:
My issue is with the word “provoke.” I don’t read it as synonymous with “cooperate with.”
TS (the original)
@Betty Cracker: A distinct lack of trust, regardless as to who is the President. I have no doubt trump’s view is to partner with Putin and “rule the world”, ignoring all and anything that happens to anyone other than white folks.
His fantasy is being able to get the adoring loving crowds anywhere he goes rather than have to go to the boondocks every other week for the adulation. He can do this via fear and force – as any dictator will tell him.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
This ends with Republican voters in the South and Midwest being forced by UN blue helmets to go to theaters to watch video of American military and paramilitary atrocities committed on American citizens during the Third World War.
Betty Cracker
@Adam L Silverman: It’s true that nothing ever really regains its previous state, but I was under the impression we weathered the GWB presidency rather well. We were still trusted by allies, thought to be credible while engaging in treaty negotiations. etc. I’ve gotta think following Obama with this goddamned fool has more severe consequences unless there’s a de-Trumpification.
Ruckus
@Yutsano:
Mocking is due now.
There is no there to the greens, other than fatalistic ideals that sound good and yet have no venue of reality. Being a citizen takes effort, understanding of what is and what is possible – in all aspects of humanity, not just in a pot addled dream.
Adam L Silverman
@Greenergood: I’m aware. I lived in Scotland from 1992 through 1995 and, to be honest, didn’t want to come back to the US when I did. I love the place and think of it as a second home. If I was advising the Scottish government my recommendations would be the following:
1) Use whatever leverage you have to exercise an internal to the UK veto over Brexit. As in Scotland refuses to comply with the vote as this is not in the best interest of its people. Dare Westminster to present the Queen with the reality that she may lose part of her kingdom if this goes through.
2) Make preparation to secede from the UK and declare independence and form a Celtic Union with the Republic of Ireland. Be prepared to nationalize the North Sea platforms and take and hold the various British bases on Scottish soil.
You all have leverage if you choose to use it. The question is does your leadership have the vision to recognize and use that leverage to achieve the best outcome for Scotland and its citizens?
If you’ve not seen it, here’s my Brexit post:
https://balloon-juice.com/2016/06/24/through-the-looking-glass-hope-is-not-a-strategy/
Adam L Silverman
@piratedan: I’ve lurked a bit, first time commenter…//
debbie
Adam, I’ve been out of publishing since the mid-1990s, but if you aren’t interested in self-publishing and instead want to submit your manuscript yourself (rather than find an agent), I’d suggest one of two things:
1) Go to the reference section of your library and roam through “Literary Marketplace” (in the reference section). It’s published every year and includes all publishers. There’s a section that breaks publishers down by category, like current events, military, etc.
2) Go to your local bookstore and check out the sections where your book would be placed. Note those publishers and solicit them.
ETA: Your subject matter, though icky and disgusting, is current, and so almost any general publishing house might be worth approaching.
Adam L Silverman
@TenguPhule: States don’t have friends, they have interests.
Annie
@khead:
But that’s why the Western alliance worked — because it was structured so that it was in everyone’s interest to work with other countries. We didn’t have to be sentimental about them, just deal with them.
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: I’m not sure anyone wants me to turn this into a bodice ripper.
Gelfling 545
@Yarrow: I was thinking that an expanded title could be The Trump Doctrine: What’s in It for Me? Because that is Trump’s sole interest and motivation.
germy
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
We don’t. BELIEVE ME!
Ruckus
@DocSardonic:
Like Button. Pressed!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Then enjoy increasing irrevleance, because the Greens (in America) couldn’t organize a pissing contest.
…after a kegger.
Baud
One thing Germany could do to earn the gratitude of loyal Americans is to get Deutsche Bank to disclose all their dealings with Trump and his associates.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: ah, I see what you mean now. They might need a better English-language line editor.
Sloane Ranger
@Greenergood: Scotland gaining independence would NOT lead to you escaping Brexit. Nicola tried that on almost immediately after the referendum result was announced. She went to Brussels where she was politely told an independent Scotland could take its place in the queue.
There are too many EU nations with separatist movements for them to want to be seen rewarding such movements; so Scotland would be a small country trying to make its own way in the world with no established central bank or financial/monetary system and a very dodgy economy.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: I thought it already was, what with Trump and all the pron stars.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: I hope that’s all it is.
piratedan
it is true Adam, we are thru the looking glass here and will need to build new standards and new relationships, that is all providing that non-fascists wrest control of the reigns of power in this country once again
In a way, it’s going to perhaps mean that we see ‘political” growth for some existing actors and perhaps some new entities projecting their desires regionally if not globally, say India, Japan, Australia, Brazil? geographic spheres of influence? Do we see a renewal of the rivalry between China and Russia?
Whole lotta questions and a whole lotta uncertainty… and that doesn’t even cover the likely upheaval here, even if the Dems take down the newly fascist revanchist GOP, what follows in its wake?
Major Major Major Major
@Adam L Silverman: some of us write sci-fi/fantasy/weird too!
Gelfling 545
@TenguPhule: what’s best for them would also be best for us and none of us is likely to get it with a madman in power. They may have alternatives and no one can fault them taking them whereas we’re pretty much sunk.
gene108
@Betty Cracker:
America cannot recover its international standing, until there are fundamental changes in the Republican Party, because any Republican President would have gotten us out of the Iran deal, for example.
And I don’t see that happening. The Republican Party is the party most white people vote for and as long as Republicans have a stranglehold on the majority of the majority demographic they will be hard to beat on a large enough scale to force change.
Mnemosyne
@debbie:
Echoing what Debbie said — look at who published books on similar subjects that you thought were good and query them. Yes, you’ll have to write a query letter. It sucks, but it’s pretty much inevitable with nonfiction.
Don’t forget about the big university presses, like U of Chicago. They have pretty good reach as well. Stay away from Regnery. ?
Mary G
@AliceBlue: Ugh. I was reading the WaPo’s latest giant article on “what Trump voters in the Midwest think” and getting so angry at all the “I’m not a racist, but I hated Obama” quotes that I wanted to buy a ticket to Iowa and punch a few of them out.
Your situation reminds me of the great scene from “Fried Green Tomatoes” where the young girl steals Kathy Bates’ parking spot and when she protests, says “we’re just younger and faster,” whereupon Kathy bashes into their car, saying “I’m older and I have more insurance.”
Yarrow
@Sloane Ranger: Agreed. Scotland as its own country isn’t going to be well received by the EU.
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
Well….
drumpf has pissed off pretty much everybody except those that have been able to use his craven stupidity to their advantage, NK, Vlad….. That’s about it. GWB didn’t alienate all but 2 countries in the world. In 8 yrs he didn’t manage that. drumpf has done that in less than 1 1/2 yrs. So if you are wondering why not elect a dictator to run a democracy, this is the reason.
SiubhanDuinne
@AliceBlue:
I would have helped cover your vastly-inflated auto insurance premiums.
Adam L Silverman
@OzarkHillbilly: Thank you for your support!//
TenguPhule
@Betty Cracker:
Not really. The first cracks were made there. The termites appointed by his regime of error into the federal government quietly ate their way higher up the foodchain and are now delivering all the wonderful presents that Darth Cheney sowed so long ago.
President Obama did his best to paper over the damage, but the eggshell never uncracked itself.
efgoldman
@jo6pac:
Fuck you
You probably think you are the solution, but you are the problem. I hope you’re happy you putthat WEeasel Faced buffoon in the WH.
Lemme’ guess: You are white, male, with a comfy life style.
In case you missed it the first time, FUCK YOU!
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Hey, Adam McKay won himself an Oscar by figuring out how to sex up explanations of the financial crisis. Don’t knock it until you try it.
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
Sufficiently advanced Nations can have both.
Adam L Silverman
@Betty Cracker: Pretty much.
Yutsano
@OzarkHillbilly: I don’t think academic journals work like that…
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
You have to cater to that all important female purchasing demographic.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: @Mnemosyne: Yeah, good point! And this story has Playboy Playmates and p0rn stars, a sexy attorney, and a crazy over the top central character all ready to go.
TenguPhule
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I am given to understand that they object to booze on the grounds that it exploits the long oppressed common starches.
TenguPhule
@gene108:
We can have a Democratic America or we can have a Republican party.
We can’t have both.
TenguPhule
@Ruckus:
Not for lack of trying.
les
@Adam L Silverman:
Me, me, pick me!!
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: I’ve had tremendous difficulty getting traction in the past with self submissions. Even when very senior people that published with those publishers did the intro. My stuff tends to be met with initial excitement and then pencil whipped around until dead with the argument of “We don’t know which unit to run this through, it could be IR, it could be polisci, it could be military, it could be crim, etc, etc, etc.. Therefore we cannot go forward at this time.” This is why I’ve published nothing other than two requested by editors book reviews since 2009 and just done all my work as internal to the Army, DOD, and/or other US government agencies staff product.
Cermet
@Adam L Silverman: Are you unhinged? Those actions taken with no agreements or careful considerations followed by thoughtful negotiations is exactly a tRump methodology. Surely you jest with those absurd suggestions? Seize their nuke subs and bases? Really? That would be putin’s wet dream for the UK.
B.B.A.
So Russians have kompromat on Trump, Trump had kompromat on the NY AG, the AG has god-knows-what on everybody else in the state…
Does anyone have anything on the Russians, or are they at the top of this sordid blackmail chain?
TenguPhule
@B.B.A.:
They don’t care.
Its why murder is such an obvious solution in that region of the world.
Mary G
The Hill has the latest hoocoodanode:
The Republicans are trying to spin it as sour grapes because cities are all run by Democrats, who hate Trump, and that security will be expensive because there will be so many protesters. I don’t buy it, since hotels and bars probably make quite a bit of money off conventions and protesters have to sleep and drink too.
“Sure, we want you to come! Just don’t tell anybody.” Sad!
Adam L Silverman
@Gelfling 545: The working title is actually: I Will Be Treated Fairly or Else: The Trump Doctrine and the Future of American National Security Policy.
TenguPhule
@les:
Are you volunteering as subject or delivery?
TenguPhule
@Mary G:
That place keeps coming up over and over again.
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
Think you misspelled failure there.
rikyrah
This post is but another reason why those who put us in this position will NEVER BE FORGIVEN ??
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
Were your other submissions as timely as this one?
You could start local (or state-al). Take a look at #6 here and at the link to their submission guidelines.
waysel
@efgoldman: Where’s the damn “like” button in this hellhole?
Patricia Kayden
@Baud: What would you advise them to do? Trump is a volatile bully with no one to hold him back. I don’t blame our allies from playing it safe now in hopes that Americans will come to their senses and elect an intelligent President in 2020.
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
People like to vote with all their own prejudices in full view, be it at the ballot box or in the way they see the world. (Take our resident green moron for example, massively apparent evidence to the contrary, he’s going to continue to vote as a moron, rather than do the work to make anything better) So many are going to look at a book by an expert, a book with backing for all it’s points and ideals as just plain wrong. And it’s going to be committeed to death before it ever sees a publish date. As your experience shows.
I think you are going to have to do this yourself. It is entirely possible to self publish these days. It might not look like a masterpiece from S & S but the work is out there.
maya
@Adam L Silverman:
Excuse me, but that is the trump doctrine!
You might try Harlequin.com???
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: I don’t think anyone wants this as an apocalyptic fantasy either.
TenguPhule
Trump outlines plan to lower drug prices, reneges on pledge to leverage Medicare
Much ado about bullshit.
Sloane Ranger
@Adam L Silverman: Adam, sorry but all the recent opinion polls show that Scots would vote to keep the Union in any 2nd referendum. The SNP know that, they lost their overall majority in the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Tories are resurgent. There is no way they have the political support to do what you suggest.
Also I see no way the Irish Government would be interested in forming any sort of political union with a newly independent Scotland given that this would further complicate the border issue, which is complicated enough already!
To repeat what an audience member said on Question Time yesterday “Why did nobody talk about the border issue during the Referendum?”
Actually they did but nobody heard them above the screams about job stealing, benefits grabbing immigrants!
Ruckus
@waysel:
You have to do it yourself.
Like Button Pressed!
That’s how easy it is.
ETA Of course in the case of EFG it helps to say it a bit better.
Like Button Fucking Pressed!!
TenguPhule
@Adam L Silverman:
27% not included.
waysel
@Ruckus: Fucking thanks.
Mike in NC
Have any of you watched the Norwegian show “Occupied” on Netflix? The premise is that in the near future, Norway is occupied by Russia on behalf of the European Union, due to the fact that the newly elected environmental friendly Norwegian government has stopped the all important oil- and gas-production in the North Sea. America is energy independent and has basically withdrawn from world affairs.
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: I actually know a ton about publishing. I’ve served as a paid editorial reviewer for a number of prominent academic publishing houses over the years. What I also have is a ton of experience having my stuff being pencil whipped between sections until it dies because no one will touch it. Usually because what I’m proposing is well left of boom.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus:
Yeah, actually he did; not the extent Trump has in a shorter amount of time, but he did. Our standing in the world in 2008 was in almost as big a shithole as our economy was.
Ryan
You know, if Obama hadn’t made so many speeches in Germany, we wouldn’t have any of these problems. Trump’s middle finger is really aimed at Obama you know.
https://lobelog.com/pew-survey-global-views-of-obama-remain-positive/
Ruckus
@waysel:
You are fucking welcome!
And thanks for the LOL.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: Seems like it already is.
I do think last week’s, or possibly the previous week’s, writers thread was about publishing. I have skimmed them in the past and seen discussions of publishing.
Mike in NC
@Mary G: Assuming Trump remains in office until 2020, the Republican National Convention will be held at Mar-A-Lago and the US taxpayer will foot the bills. Winning!
Adam L Silverman
@Cermet: I don’t believe I’m unhinged.
MoxieM
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Yeah “they” in the form of reasonably intelligent, informed lefty (but not Die Linke Partei) regular folks are extremely aware of both what is happening here in the US, and what is happening there.
What I’m not convinced of is if (well this is Germans in particular) have a sense of the scale of American potential voting & corruption, e.g., the NRA as a political lobby. And similarly, I don’t think we have much of a grasp of how quickly, and how badly, things are deteriorating there especially in the former East, in terms of reactionary politics and a swing towards violent expression thereof.
… I’m basing this on lots of conversations with my kid & her BF who were here for a few weeks just now. They live in Northern Germany; he’s a native. We did a lot of political yakking, as we do …
Yarrow
@Sloane Ranger: It’s interesting that Alex Salmond has a show on Russia Today.
How’s the People’s Vote group doing? I saw Patrick Stewart is supporting it.
NotMax
Suggested alternate title:
Trump: Is there a doctrine in the house?
Only half-joking about that one.
Baud
@NotMax: Happy ??? day!
kindness
One of the major problems the US faces is that the Republican Party has changed. It was always xenophobic and right wing but it has progressed to openly racist and fascist (for all practical purposes). It has done this because the party is controlled by very small number of very wealthy individuals who are obsessed with having their way. Money. Money has done in the party. Now we as individuals can’t change that. I don’t even know where to begin with the lower rung rubes who’ve taken up the tribal calling and vote for them. I have found myself loosing faith. But then I remember if I gave up, Trump (Putin really) would be the winner. I don’t know how to take money out of politics. We can’t while the Supreme Court consists of the right wingers that sit in the majority. But we can’t let despair get the better of us.
I lived through Reagan by living outside of politics. I voted but led my life as I chose. Easy to do here in N. Cal while Jerry was still alive. I lived through Dubya because at that point I was invested in the system. Had kids. Couldn’t live apart from it and worked to overcome right wing hysterics. Now with Trump……I think we all need to learn how to build guilotines and start making them.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: Yes. I got back from Iraq with over 200 transcribed pages of in depth interviews with elites and notables – sheikhs, imams, retired/former military leaders, local officials, etc – that provided important new insight into how the Iraqis understood what was happening to them. I submitted the first proposal before I ever got back, with someone more senior making the introduction to the acquisitions editor. I was told that because we didn’t tape the interviews – because between me, the subject, and the interpreter (to make sure I didn’t miss anything because my Arabic wasn’t that good) all the tapes got us were half a sentence of me, followed by the interpreter talking over me, followed by the subject talking over the interpreter, followed by half a sentence of the subject, rinse and repeat – that this couldn’t be published as an oral history. That got seconded by every major, top line publisher that had an oral history section that I was recommended to by senior folks. When I pitched to other publishers, for a non oral history, where senior people did the introductions for me, I got initial excitement, followed by whipping the thing from section to section until it died. When I had an acquisitions editor who knew me show interest, her boss stopped it. We still don’t know why. I got a journal article out of it, largely because the editors sought me out and asked for it. And, of course, I got internal to the government staff reports out of it.
Let’s put it this way, this thing was so hot that it was flash trafficked back to State with an “Urgent Eyes Only Secretary of State” header in 2008 by one of my State Department contacts in Iraq. So it was high prioritied back to Condoleeza Rice, because it was so ahead of what we thought was going on, but despite that I can’t get it published. So it’s not going anywhere. Just sitting in a folder on my desktop.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: You get a pass on that on since it’s your b-day. Happy b-day.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I’m not in any way trying to give GWB a pat on the back or a boost, he does not deserve it in any way, shape or form.
But, let’s be a bit honest, drumpf has shown himself to be a far worse person and a far worse president than GWB. I still contend that while GWB was easily in the running to be named on any bodies list as in the worst 5 ever, drumpf has pushed him out of that possibility by being the 5 worst all by himself. It took a lot of lies, a massive asshole for VP and years for him to get there. drumpf managed to get there on Jan 20 2017 by about 2pm. And has only gotten worse. Every day is a horror show of bullshit, stupidity, craven assholeness, and amazement at the ability of the man to manage to fuck up every single day, more and worse than the last.
As much as I hate fucking republicans, and I’d bet I do as much as anyone here, this current shit show is far worse than anything GWB did. And that includes two wars. A distinction I was hoping to never have to experience as the last one was more than bad enough.
Citizen Alan
@jo6pac:
It’s a free country. You’re free to vote green. And I’m free to help you burn to death in a fire.
Barbara
@Adam L Silverman: Somebody publishes Andrew Bacevich. Just saying.
khead
@Annie:
As long as we get what we want. The trick has been to project the image of being magnanimous while looking out for ourselves. We’ve managed to do that for about 75 years. I’m surprised it lasted this long. See TenguPhule and others in this thread. This is the first time – at least in my lifetime – that we have decided to be giant open assholes about it. Ok, well, second time. Heh. Bush43 at least had enough sense not to blow up the economic framework as well. But make no mistake, we’ve been running the world since 1945.
Also, I was trying to think of the last time the United States REALLY didn’t get what it wanted. Iran in 1979? Vietnam? Cuba? Help me out jackals.
maya
@Adam L Silverman: OK, I see you’ve expanded your working title:
To suggest that trump has a cognitive, cohesive plan for anything other than his own personal gain, i.e.; financial and/or public adoration, is a couple of Brooklyn Bridges too far.
What he usually means by being “treated fairly” has more to do with building codes and permit waivers on his Brand items across the globe than for anything involving US National Security. Especially since he has single-handedly tried to eviscerate just about every dept of our National Security in his pursuit of “loyalty”.
Wasn’t it stated that the only book he ever read was, Mein Kompf? If that was true, you might want to start there for context.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman:
This is a much more interesting title. I like it.
Brachiator
@Adam L Silverman: Great post, as usual.
It is useful to note, however, that conservative media here and in Europe (the UK Daily Mail, for example,) are pushing hard the idea that he is the undisputed leader of the Free world, based on his handling of Iran and North Korea. This was also one of the themes of his recent appearance at a GOP political rally.
Fox News, Clear Channel radio stations and Sinclair Broadcast Group used to regularly suppress any European assessment of Obama that was positive. Now, these same organizations are furiously suppressing any view of Trump that is not fawning approval.
But the views of Merkel and others will leak out anyway. But the immediate danger is that a GOP Congress will work overtime to provide cover for Trump and will back self-defeating policies. As always, Putin will be pleased.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@khead:
I doesn’t have to be just an image. It can be for real. And I resent that insinuation that it was always just an image and not genuinely felt.
Smiling Mortician
@Adam L Silverman: Try Random House. Seriously. They publish left-of-boom on a fairly regular basis. And they like publishing political stuff. I know they publish both Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes . . .
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Mike in NC:
Many, many people are saying Moscow wants to host the convention.
Believe me. Believe me.
AND MEXICO WILL PAY FOR IT!
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: Have you checked with the blog host? He seems to know a lot of people. Maybe he knows someone who has connections.
Thoughtful David
I don’t agree with the formulation of the Trump Doctrine as “Treat us fairly or else.” Unless you define “fairly” as “special.” The US has all along been treated fairly. Yes, maybe we paid more on defense, but we therefore got to call the shots, and that benefited us enormously. Our economy has not been disadvantaged. Our place in the world has not been disadvantaged.
What the Trump Doctrine seems to me is to want all the same perks, but without having to pay for them, and instead getting them by bullying. That shit ain’t gonna float for long.
Another Scott
@Sloane Ranger: Agreed. Sturgeon was weakened, not strengthened, by the continued pressing for independence.
May is between a rock and a hard place, even within her own party, about how to come up with a sensible Brexit. Since it’s an impossible task, it’s really hard to see it happening.
Reuters (from this morning):
It’s such a mess, and it’s clearly going to be a disaster, but none of the major party leaders in Parliament seem able or willing to take (metaphorical) bullet to keep it from happening.
Cheers,
Scott.
Sloane Ranger
@Yarrow: Yes, Salmond is very shifty on the subject.
Patrick Stewart was one of the celebs who signed on for the People’s Vote campaign but it’s not getting a lot of purchase. To be honest feeling are still raw about the referendum with Brexiteers still openly triumphant and Remainers still bitter. There is very little support for deepening the divisions with a 2nd referendum. The debate has moved to trying to stay in the customs union.
On a related topic, one of the pro-Brexit Groups, Leave.EU, has been fined £70000 by the Elections Commission for over-spending during the Referendum campaign and submitting inaccurate and incomplete returns. It will come as no surprise to learn that it was the one Nigel Farago was involved with.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
The other good thing about the self-publishing boom is that there are a lot of freelance editors floating around who could help you do a “developmental edit” to focus your book (since it sounds like that may be the problem — the publishers aren’t sure what to do with the draft since it’s hitting multiple areas).
Make sure to find one who also offers proofreading/copyediting as a separate service. Just sayin’.
Citizen Alan
@Citizen Alan:
And naturally, after 132 comments, the treasonous coward has nothing else to say.
waysel
@Adam L Silverman: Mother Jones? Rolling Stone?
NotMax
Oy gotenyu. The stupid, it burns. Severely.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Hate to say it, but your book didn’t fit the approved narrative, and that made it too much of a hot potato. You may be able to publish it in another 15 years as a Look at what we idiotically ignored at the time narrative.
The Other Chuck
@kindness:
FTFY. Took til now to realize “Country First” was describing Putin’s shopping list.
John Revolta
@Adam L Silverman: Hey Adam, you might want to get in touch with Loomis over at LGM. He’s got a couple books out and working on a third and he’s not a complete asshole ;^)
Adam L Silverman
@Barbara: Andrew Bacevich is a known quantity. For all the work I’ve done, I’m not.
Adam L Silverman
@maya: I’m not saying that he has anything coherent that he could delineate. I’ve been pretty clear on that in my Trump Doctrine posts.
Aleta
Keeping The Peace (It’s time for Europe to step forward and counter Trump’s Iran deal debacle).
By Daryl G. Kimball (Executive Director of the Arms Control Association) writing at Fabian Society website. The Fabian Soc. is a leftwing UK think tank. The ACA is a private, non-profit membership organization dedicated to public education and support of effective arms control measures pertaining to nuclear, chemical, biological, and conventional weapons.
ruemara
@piratedan: I’m definitely not Adam, but I think you’re correct.
@germy: But of course.
Mary G
@Adam L Silverman: Speaking as a big reader and once future editor before my health went farther down, I’m going to offer some unsolicited advice: your voice when you are serious is extremely academic and even didactic, and your paragraphs are wwaaayy tooooo loonggg.
We know you have a sense of humor, use it in your writing! Avoid all the acronyms like the plague. Also, too, I imagine since you refuse even to post pictures of your dogs for us to view, something any other front pager in Balloon Juice could never get away with, you are not very out there on things like social media. No publisher will touch that with a ten-foot pole unless you have some other built-in audience you can bring that’s bigger than Balloon Juice. Do Twitter under a pseudonym. Start a YouTube channel if you’re good at things like that. A writer who doesn’t market himself at least as much as his writing just won’t get anywhere.
Sloane Ranger
@Another Scott:Agree totally. I was writing a post saying some of the same things at the same time you were posting this.
In a way I feel sorry for May how can you lead a party containing Anna Soubry, Ken Clarke, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Peter Bone in any single direction over Brexit?
The end result is going to be a fudge aimed at preventing a split rather than getting the best deal possible.
Another Scott
@Adam L Silverman: If it were easy, everyone would be a published author.
HuffPo:
Yeah, novels are different from what you’ve worked on. But that just means your task is tougher.
If it’s important to you to get it published by a publisher, then you have to drop your shoulder and keep going.
There’s nothing wrong with self-publishing, either, if you want to get it out there and get noticed. Your “oral history” thing would be valuable to historians (especially if it were a top hit in Google) and could be a marker for building interest in your Trump Doctrine opus.
Capt. Mnemo’s idea about university presses is a good one.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
(“And the ideas of a fictionalization are good, also too. Remember le Carre and Ian Fleming…”)
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
Based on what you’ve said, you ought to give self-publishing a shot.
Kathleen
@Yarrow: Tom Levenson would probably be a good resource because of the nature of your subject matter, which I’m think would be an academic approach targeting experts/educators?
Jeffro
@Another Scott: hadrian’s Wall is a really fun read, especially for folks interested in Roman-era Britain
B.B.A.
@Another Scott: “This is a work of friction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely deliberate.”
Kathleen
@maya: Baudice ripping could be the new Baud Doctrine.
Aleta
@Sloane Ranger:Fwiw, Philip Stephens in the Financial Times said this as part of his (conservative) column. You understand him better than I do I’m sure.
RepubAnon
@Annie:
Or in other words, imitate Mike Pence.
mozzerb
@Adam L Silverman:
Erm … far be it from me as an Englishman to advise the Scots, but I can’t believe you’re really saying what this sounds like.
As far as 1) goes, well, fair enough. However, when push came to shove I doubt most Tory denizens of Westminster would actually be that bothered by the thought of losing Scotland (it would leave them with an inbuilt majority under current voting patterns), and what the Queen thought about it would not be a high priority.
As for 2) … what the hell?!
For a start, I’m not sure what you mean by a “Celtic Union” — if you mean a customs union, that couldn’t be done without Scotland joining the full EU version for the same reasons that are screwing up the Brexit negotiations over the status of Northern Ireland. If you mean some sort of formal joining, that doesn’t sound any more practical than the Brexiter dreamers ideas about a sort of Imperial Preference 2.0 as the answer to exiting the customs union and single market.
As for “take and hold” the bases — I really hope that was a joke. What with — the 3rd Glasgow Rangers Supporters Light Infantry? Advising the Scots to basically kick off a small civil war over Brexit doesn’t sound like the most helpful advice I’ve ever heard.
Sloane Ranger
@Aleta: Thanks for this. I’m not surprised. The FT will always support business interests and they’ll be concerned about the effects on British companies who have already invested in Iran or were considering doing so.
BoJo was asked about protecting UK businesses from possible legal jeopardy/sanctions by the US and said the Government would look at ways to protect them but wouldn’t be drawn on what what might entail.
afanasia
@TenguPhule: My father had a touching story about his Russian-born mother nailing a a dead owl she found in the woods to the door of a man who owed her money. He payed her. Not giving a damn what the neighbors think can be a tremendous advantage. (I have never shown up with anything but baked goods – I’m not advocating for that behavior.)
Amir Khalid
@Baud:
Reality: The West as a group is dependent on American power, both hard and soft. America was easily the biggest force in setting up the post-WWII order that way. The West is now having to deal with a sudden loss of much of its power and influence, which was American power and influence. Neither France nor Germany is by itself a first-tier military or geopolitical power. This shit is coming down because Trump’s America is abandoning its post. The reality is that whatever they do they cannot afford to alienate Trump to the point that he becomes the leader of a hostile power. That his shtik incolves being wilfully unpredictable means they have to tread more carefully than they would like. This crisis in the West is all Trump’s fault, which means it is all America’s fault.
Brachiator
@Amir Khalid:
Some great points, but I don’t think that Trump has the brains to become the leader of a hostile power. Trump thinks like a 19th century leader, to the degree that he thinks at all.
The sad thing is that instead of making America great again, he may in fact insure the collapse of the US as a significant power.
Miss Bianca
Adam, I am so, so psyched to hear that you are going to turn your ideas on the Trump Doctrine into a book. Good for you! Good for us too, I hope – as in, hope you keep using us as a forum for ’em – your ideas, I mean.
My only experience with publishing is with academic presses, and I am sure with your credentials that you wouldn’t need any suggestiond from me on how to get noticed in that sphere!
Amir Khalid
@Sloane Ranger:
I approve of this typo.
Amir Khalid
@Brachiator:
He doesn’t have the brains for it, true. But there he is.
Peale
@Aleta: yep. I’ll agree that Europe is serious when it actually sanctions the US rather than sending support troops. My guess is that when push comes to shove, France and The UK will fall over themselves to drop bombs on Iran. But we’ll see.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G:
Given my work, this is a non starter.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Another thought — start by writing a magazine article on the topic that could be expanded out into a book. Shop the article around and then, if it gets published, you’ll be more likely to draw and editor’s interest.
Also, like I said above, see if there’s a freelance developmental editor in your field who can help you noodle the book before you start shopping it to publishers. Editors at publishing houses don’t have a lot of time to work with writers these days and want you to have a manuscript that’s pretty close to being publishable when you submit it.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: Highly unlikely to be good for me. Very likely to be painful, harmful, and damaging to me.
Manyakitty
@Gelfling 545: ooh, What’s In It For Me?; or the Trump Doctrine
Adam L Silverman
@mozzerb: I’m feeling particularly warlike and provocative this evening.
Amir Khalid
@mozzerb:
Rangers just appointed Steven Gerrard manager. He’s just had a successful year as Liverpool’s under-18 manager. If anyone can whip the 3rd Glasgow Rangers Supporters Light Infantry into shape, it’s Stevie G.
Chet Murthy
@Betty Cracker:
FTFY. If we don’t ferret out, prosecute, and imprison the traitors, they’ll just try again. And next time, they might not be so incompetent. Or allies might not be so stalwart — some of them might have been compromised too. This is an existential moment for our Republic. We have to clean this up (near-)completely.
KSinMA
@Adam L Silverman: That’s why you need an agent, imho. It’s no harder to get an agent interested than it is to get a publisher.
Adam L Silverman
@KSinMA: If you have any recommendations, please shoot me an email.
Sherparick
@jo6pac: I am sure all immigrants losing status, in detention, & deported appreciate your purity. The Green party can’t elect a dogcatcher. If you don’t like your local Democrat Senator, Congressperson, state senator, or state representative, or county supervisor – run against them in the primary.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
He may?
I’m struggling with the concept you’ve put forward that he possibly won’t fuck this up. There isn’t any other thing he’s done in his life that he hasn’t fucked up. Not one. He’s not going to pass on keeping that record intact.
Chet Murthy
@khead:
Sorry, but NO. The Western Alliance was first and foremost about ensuring that war didn’t happen in Europe and the Far East. That used-to-be belligerents would instead become peaceful trading partners, and thereby end up unable to contemplate war with each other. And a critical part of that was for the US to be ones to hold and wield military power in those areas. Sure, with our allies (those former belligerents) helping. But it was part of the plan that we did the heavy lifting, thereby making it impossible for them to go to war with each other again.
And IT WORKED. Until now, when Shitlord wants to rip it all down.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
Yes. He may.
So, I never said that Trump won’t fuck things up. He ain’t gonna be around forever, and the scars he leaves behind may not be permanent.
Cathie from Canada
It would be inaccurate, and an insult to the English language, to use the term “doctrine” to describe whatever-the-hell Trump is doing. He doesn’t have a clue. “The Trump Shambles” might be a better description.
Doug
“Does she have the political will, let alone political capital, to increase Germany’s defense sector spending to compensate for the vacuum being created from the President’s longstanding hostilities to America’s allies and partners … Does she have the political capital within the EU to be able to get France and other EU member states to also step up their defense sector spending?”
I know a few things here, from engaging with Germany for the last 20 years or so, and from living among people who work in German foreign policy.
First and foremost, many, many, many people have underestimated Angela Merkel. They all have one thing in common: not one of them is a four-term German Chancellor.
Second, when Merkel says, “The times in which we could completely depend on others are on the way out. I’ve experienced that in the last few days. We Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands.” know that (1) this is a theme that has come up often in the past, and (2) her statement will have been staffed out and consensused to a fare-thee-well. Political Berlin has been working on what to do without/against America since about November 10, 2016. I can vouch for a couple days of utter shell-shock right after the election, but after that people got to work on wtf to do. They have been working on this problem not because they want to (by and large, with a few exceptions) but because they have to.
Third, Adam, I think your position may be leading you to overestimate the importance of defense budgets and military power. Operating independently of America is not going to require matching the size of the US defense establishment. Europeans going their own way is not going to mean replicating US policies, preferences and choices but with European staff and resources; it is going to mean making different choices. The problem you anticipate is not going to arise because people will be starting from different premises. (Other problems will arise, of course.)
Adam, drop me a line if you want to talk Germany.
dopey-o
@TenguPhule:every nation for themselves.
and god against them all!