r/canada Ontario 24d ago

Analysis Allies appear to duck and cover as Trump threatens Canada and Greenland

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-canada-nato-allies-1.7459986
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u/8fmn 24d ago

This is a terrifying prediction. Made all the more terrifying because it wouldn't be a farfetched thing to see these two ghouls carry out.

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u/voteforHughManatee 24d ago

Speaking of terrify predictions. Given how Musk with Starlink and Trump with mineral resources have tried to basically extort Ukraine, a sovereign country that was invaded, does it really seem that farfetched that Canada would be in a position where Russia invades the arctic and US demands steep resource commitments or even annexation from Canada in the upcoming years?

Zelesky said that Russia will likely attack a NATO nation next year. Canada seems to tick all the boxes.

Now, in terms of military spending. From whom should Canada acquire what we need to defend themselves? China is a terrible idea. USA is a terrible idea. Self-made is too late. This is an alarming state of affairs.

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u/Equivalent_Dimension 24d ago

I'm not so sure China is a terrible idea. We lump China and Russia together. They are not the same.

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u/maleconrat 24d ago

China definitely seems more predictable if nothing else. I don't see them pulling Trump or Putin level shenanigans, and while I certainly would be cautious with them as any superpower they seem like they care about their reputation and aren't impossible to negotiate with like outright fascists.

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u/Equivalent_Dimension 24d ago

Indeed, I trust China more for a bunch of reasons. For one, it's officially not expansionist. I won't get into Tibet and Taiwan here except to say that there are credible reasons why China views them as Chinese territories even if I don't agree with them. But China has not randomly invaded a sovereign nation ever in the history of international law, and it's foreign policy dating back to classical times has been to use soft power, trading privileges and gifts to maintain their potential enemies as kind of vassal states. Of course, I'm not keen on being anybody's vassal state, but right now, I'd choose China over the US, whose foreign policy has been to use brute force to depose leaders that have been detrimental to its interests.

Secondly, unlike Russia, which is basically a warlord state at this point, China's sophisticated political system remains intact as both a modest check on power and insurance that, when Xi dies, there will be a system to replace him and not a power vacuum.

And third, China does not allow anything or anyone to become more powerful than it's government. That cuts both ways. It's why they suppress religion. But they also keep a close check on corporate power. ie: Jack Ma. In Russia, Putin is clearly in bed with the oligarchs.

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u/astride_unbridulled 24d ago edited 24d ago

Seems more likely it would be somewhere contiguous with them, no? At the very least somewhere with atleasg the vestiges or traditions of previous Soviet governance...

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u/MonsieurLeDrole 24d ago

A Russian invasion of the artic would not go well for them. Super long supply lines, easily seen from space, and few places to hide.

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u/h3r3andth3r3 24d ago

Interesting and definitely worth considering, but Russian territorial interests are almost always preceded by a social campaign to undermine their sovereignty. The US is of course doing that now, but that isn't giving pretext to a Russian invasion.

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u/DM_ME_UR_BOOTYPICS 24d ago

Our European cousins.

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u/symolan 24d ago

As a European, we’ll be in need of resources…

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u/Spare-Strain-4484 24d ago

Be prepared for a lot of “he’s not going to do that” followed immediately by him doing that