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by chmod775
847 days ago
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Maybe ally/enemy is a spectrum and also not one-dimensional. "Not ally" does not imply enemy and my military ally might not be my ally in trade. Also most US allies have learned to not read too much into the word ally. The US makes for a rather fickle and sometimes insidious partner. Trust in the US on military matters is rather high (despite some recent blunders), but in every other arena it is basically nonexistent. I don't see why the US should receive any less scrutiny than China in this instance. |
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I’d add that as long as NATO was uncontroversial in American politics, allies could count on being able to work with each successive president, regardless of party, which definitely did help. There was the occasional bickering (like the French being vocal in their opposition to the war in Iraq), but nothing that would compromise the alliance in the long run. Things like “friendly” intelligence gathering, or indeed trade disputes, never stopped, but did not preclude cooperation at the highest levels.
In that context, it’s fine to argue every now and then because everyone knows that neither side is likely to escalate things out of control. As you said, it did not affect trust in the fundamentals.