It looks like the vaunted experience of Biden and his team has not translated into any sort of deft policymaking, particularly in foreign policy. The messy pullout out of Afghanistan, followed by this scuttling of the deal in progress between Australia and France have reinforced the notion that Uncle Sam can not be relied upon, even by his closest allies. Pretty surefire way of helping fence-sitters become client states of China.
France Recalls Its Ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia over a Submarine Deal
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Re: France Recalls Its Ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia over a Submarine Deal
#12This is getting pretty ridiculous. Almost like a child throwing a tantrum. How does France expect to be taken seriously if it acts like a petulant child?
They are after all French
Re: France Recalls Its Ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia over a Submarine Deal
#13Is it just me or are there more off-topic political posts on HN lately?
This isn't off-topic for HN. We've always had 1) submarine posts (aha, I mean both meanings here haha), 2) military strategy posts, 3) $40B deal-falling-apart posts, and even 4) war escalation posts. There's even a prized technical angle about the development of high-tech nuclear submarines.
On-topic.
Re: France Recalls Its Ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia over a Submarine Deal
#14It seems like a bit of an overreaction. Is shipbuilding that important to France?
€50B over 50 years, dubbed "the contract of the century".
The French were messing up the contract all on their own.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-20/australia-attack-clas...
Re: France Recalls Its Ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia over a Submarine Deal
#15Is it just me or are there more off-topic political posts on HN lately?
geopolitical topics != politics
impact of nation-state relations have a very real impact on the world commerce
Re: France Recalls Its Ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia over a Submarine Deal
#16It is super laughable because the nuclear powered version that they are building for themselves was a fixed bid contract for something like 10 billion for 8 subs.. and the Australian contract keeps going up and up something like 35 billion for ten subs. The diesel sub for Australia is based on the nuclear sub that they signed the fixed bid contract for. Anybody with half brain can tell they are making up the lost of fixed bid contract by charging the Australia more.. and then they act surprised when Australia pulls out when they can get nuclear subs for cheaper. When nuclear subs usually cost 2.5* the cost. These people do great reporting on all of this. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone
Re: France Recalls Its Ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia over a Submarine Deal
#17Is it just me or are there more off-topic political posts on HN lately?
Disturbing observation: 5 years ago, the trends that seemed most important to me were all technical - I really paid no attention to politics. Today, they are mostly geo-political.
Re: France Recalls Its Ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia over a Submarine Deal
#18Is it just me or are there more off-topic political posts on HN lately?
It seems that the user base here has been deteriorating and the focus has been drifting away from the SV startup scene. I've also been noticing a growing political atmosphere that is in opposition to SV norms. A sign of the times probably, but I also suspect that HN's usefulness to Ycombinator is fading.
Re: France Recalls Its Ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia over a Submarine Deal
#19It seems like a bit of an overreaction. Is shipbuilding that important to France?
It's always about domestic politics. Macron doesn't want to look weak in the leadup to the 2022 election, and it's not hard to see why France would be upset here.
When Merkel decided to welcome one million refugees on german soil, it was about domestic politics?
Re: France Recalls Its Ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia over a Submarine Deal
#20It looks like the vaunted experience of Biden and his team has not translated into any sort of deft policymaking, particularly in foreign policy. The messy pullout out of Afghanistan, followed by this scuttling of the deal in progress between Australia and France have reinforced the notion that Uncle Sam can not be relied upon, even by his closest allies. Pretty surefire way of helping fence-sitters become client sta…
Derna forever!
EDIT: Sorry for the low-effort riffing. I was being wry.
The U.S. won a decisive victory at Derna and, in the aftermath of the diplomatic resolution resulting from that victory, promptly abandoned our allies, without pay, in enemy territory.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Derna_(1805)
It is my opinion that we are unreliable, and it's deeply painful when diplomats squander gains made at the cost of decades of treasure and military blood.
This is especially painful right now. A lot of us had to beg, borrow, and steal our way to rescuing Afghan interpreters while the State Dept did nothing.