{"id":3860,"date":"2026-04-14T17:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T17:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/?p=3860"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:06:31","slug":"the-balance-of-power-in-the-world-is-shifting-the-us-will-be-the-biggest-loser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/?p=3860","title":{"rendered":"The Balance Of Power In The World Is Shifting, & The US Will Be The Biggest Loser"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Seen from space, the Earth is a beautiful place, marked by blue oceans and green forests. There are no visible boundaries between nations and no way to tell which of its human inhabitants is white, or brown, or black. Closer to home, however, humans have elected to create countries that go to war with each other all the time to avenge some slight or gain some political advantage. Often nations will forge alliances to protect them from or impose their will on other alliances.<\/p>\n

Since 1945, a country called the United States \u2014 what a misnomer that is! \u2014 has been the 800-pound gorilla on the world stage, using its economic and military muscle to impose its will on others. Sometimes that has been a good thing, but mostly it has cost the American people untold trillions of dollars to build hundreds of military bases in more than 90 countries around the world. Over time, America\u2019s military might has been used to bludgeon weak nations like Panama and Grenada \u2014 and now Iran \u2014 but never has it been used to restrain the adventurism of Russia \u2014 its main rival for nearly a century.<\/p>\n

Scary Foreigners<\/h3>\n

Most of the conflicts have been about oil and methane, but many have involved preventing people from one place from moving to someplace else. People sometimes move to gain an economic advantage, but more often they move because they are starving or to escape armed conflicts nearby. Preventing immigration has been at the heart of many national policies that have featured prominently in the politics of several countries in this century.<\/p>\n

It was the primary motivation for the UK to leave the European Union. It was the foundation for Viktor Orban\u2019s 16 years of heavy-handed rule in Hungary, and it propelled a delusional, weak old man into the presidency of the United States in 2024. Fear of the other is often called xenophobia, a concept that has been around a long, long time. It means the fear or dislike of people who are perceived as being foreign or strange.<\/p>\n

According to Wikipedia<\/a>, it is \u201cbased on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-group and an out-group and it may manifest itself in suspicion of one group\u2019s activities by members of the other group, a desire to eliminate the presence of the group that is the target of suspicion, and fear of losing a national, ethnic, or racial identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Disturbance In The Force<\/h3>\n

On Sunday, voters delivered a knockout blow to Viktor Orb\u00e1n and his hard right government in Hungary. As Paul Krugman observed this week, Hungary is a very minor trading partner with the US. But it is deeply embedded in the European economy and is the place where businesses choose to build their factories, because wages are low and regulations are lax.<\/p>\n

Hungary has been a thorn in the side of the EU while Orb\u00e1n was in control. It refused to endorse a plan to make Ukraine part of NATO or to extend economic and military aid to that country because Orb\u00e1n was a deeply committed puppet of Vladimir Putin \u2014 as is America\u2019s alleged president.<\/p>\n

Now that Orb\u00e1n has been humiliated at the polls, the new Hungarian government is expected to be more open to including Ukraine in Europe\u2019s affairs as a full partner.\u00a0That will take some time, however, as the Hungarian government has been stocked at every level with loyalists. Whether that loyalty persists after such a crushing defeat is hard to predict.<\/p>\n

The UK And The EU<\/h3>\n

Even before the election in Hungary, there were signs that a realignment was about to take place between the UK and the EU. It has been over a decade since Boris Johnson tore up the partnership with Europe, a move powered by overblown fears of filthy, stinking immigrants coming to the UK and stealing the jobs of honest, hardworking Brits.<\/p>\n

Sharp-eyed readers will recognize such fear mongering is at the heart of Project 2025. That is no surprise, because autocratic governments always use fear of the other to attract supporters. In fact, the Hungarian regime under Orb\u00e1n was quite openly the model for Project 2025. In fact, according to Heather Cox Richardson, partisans in the Hungarian government actually donated money to the Heritage Foundation that created that plan and participated in CPAC conventions in the US.<\/p>\n

On April 12, 2026, before the results of the election in Hungary were known, The Guardian<\/a><\/em> reported that ministers in the UK were \u201cplanning to fundamentally reshape Britain\u2019s relationship with the European Union, with new legislation that could result in the UK signing up to EU single market rules without a normal parliamentary vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a major development in the prime minister\u2019s push for closer ties with the continent after the Iran war, the Guardian understands ministers are bracing to face down opposition to a \u201cdynamic alignment\u201d with the EU from those who \u201cscream treason\u201d over the powers in a new EU-UK reset bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter weeks of Donald Trump\u2019s war with Iran that have exposed the fragility of the UK\u2019s damaged special relationship with the US, ministers argue the move will add billions to the UK economy, help temper the cost of the conflict, and boost sluggish productivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Tale Told By An Idiot<\/h3>\n

This, of course, exposes the idiocy of the US attack on Iran. It went in with no plan and no clear objectives. It did not consult with any of its allies, then threw a hissy fit when those allies did not rush to support the war. Actions have consequences, and a constant stream of threats and invective does not incline others to take your side.<\/p>\n

As a result, the European Union and NATO are now stronger, thanks to the arrogance of America\u2019s head bully, who has been following this script since his days as a self-important reality TV impresario. His schtick<\/em> is wearing thin and causing him to lose supporters in droves. The countries of Europe now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the US is an unreliable ally whose word cannot be trusted. How that makes the nation anything but weak is hard to comprehend.<\/p>\n

A Boost For Renewables<\/h3>\n

The upshot of all this is that every nation in the world is now racing to add renewable energy to is portfolio. It is no longer possible to pretend that relying on imported energy that is subject to interruption at any of the world\u2019s choke points is a fool\u2019s game. The Donald has driven that lesson home in every capitol around the globe.<\/p>\n

According to Euractive<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0French Prime Minister S\u00e9bastien Lecornu this week outlined a national electrification plan aimed at reducing reliance on fossil fuels and strengthening the country\u2019s energy sovereignty. \u201cA country is only truly free if it can stand firm when the world is in turmoil,\u201d Lecornu\u00a0said<\/a>, arguing that France must curb its dependence on imported oil and gas. \u201cAs long as we depend on oil and gas, we will continue to pay for other people\u2019s wars,\u201d Lecornu added.<\/p>\n

Writing on Substack<\/a> today, Paul Krugman began his latest post this way: \u201cAn energy-hungry world is being pushed away by America and into China\u2019s arms.\u201d That\u2019s some great deal-making, huh? Governing is a lot harder than playing a role on TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump wants to stop the renewable energy revolution, but he can\u2019t. It will continue to advance around the world because the economics and the science are compelling. Trump can, however, ensure that the revolution passes [the US] by. And the big geopolitical winner from Trump\u2019s hostility to the energy revolution will be China<\/a>, which dominates the production of renewable-energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, the China-led energy future<\/a> will arrive ahead of schedule thanks to the debacle in Iran. Soaring oil and gas prices, combined with the threat of shortages, have driven home the riskiness of relying on fossil fuels,\u201d Krugman wrote.<\/p>\n

Until Inauguration Day, 2025, the US was making meaningful progress toward expanding its supply of clean energy and creating good paying jobs as well. Now with know-nothings like Chris Wright<\/a> leading the charge for more fossil fuels, those opportunities are slipping away. This is what is known as \u201csnatching defeat from the jaws of victory.\u201d The Chinese<\/a> are set to be the next hegemony on the world stage because the US elected to shoot itself in the foot to satisfy the insatiable ego of one demented man.<\/p>\n

This disturbance in the force will take years to play out, but the end game is already clear. America has squandered every advantage it had and will reap the whirlwind that always follows when hatred and fear take center stage.<\/p>\n

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