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EU Parliament freezes US trade deal ratification

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Re: EU Parliament freezes US trade deal ratification

#3

Post by reallymental »

All this hullabaloo about trade, tariffs and international relations has really got me thinking about the role of career "diplomats". I know of (peripherally) a few european people who have studied for this as a career, they've spent a lot of time on it (education wise). From far away it seems like a professional-level thing like being a doctor or a lawyer. They spend a lot of time studying, then working at the gov level as a lackey for a few years, then they gain some "contacts" and then... what? They join a "think-tank"? They help draft "policy"?

What's the point of all this? Aren't they all supposed to be just elected officials, and with the help of admin, supposed to just do their jobs?

I know I sound naive, I know it's more than this. I know interpersonal relationships matter and that's what these "contacts" are. But if all this can be thrown away by the actions of the few, what's the point of all this effort? Just simplify the entire structure, slash all this admin to the bare bones and let the people at the top show their competency, instead of the admin covering for them.

Re: EU Parliament freezes US trade deal ratification

#4

Post by davedx »

rapsey wrote: post #2

[flagged]

We're not dependent on their energy. One example: we get 10-12% of our LNG from Qatar.

No one power controls all tech or markets. There are American and Chinese tech companies who are dependent on European tech companies (ASML being one of the better known examples).

The whole point of globalization is that we're all interdependent on each other.

All that being said: Europe has a ton of work to do. The spirit of your comment isn't entirely off the mark.

Re: EU Parliament freezes US trade deal ratification

#7

Post by davedx »

"Carney said this more isolationist approach, where there's a "world of fortresses," will make countries poorer, fragile and less sustainable. But it's coming nonetheless and Canada must work with like-minded allies where possible to push back against domination by larger, wealthier and well-armed countries."

New trade relationships are being forged surprisingly quickly in the midst of all this. Anyone have a list of what's been recently announced? I can think of Mercator, EU-India, Canada-??...

Re: EU Parliament freezes US trade deal ratification

#9

Post by p0w3n3d »

rapsey wrote: post #2

[flagged]

sadly you are not wrong. Or at least partially not wrong.

I wouldn't say pissing off, but more like 'not in a position for negotiations'. As we speak, EU is constantly slowing down their own companies while being fully dependant on US technology software and AI, being fully dependant on China's sources, chemicals, car-parts and batteries and importing (AFAIK still) Russian gas (which does not prevent german green activists from protesting against Polish gas-port). So welcome mr Trump, mr Xinping and mr Putin, which parts of our 'sovereign' conglomerate do you want to take?

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