This is the exact same way France's Airbus lost a $19 billion contract with Iran. Germany is now being forcefully decoupled from Russia, despite the fact that its entire modern export-based economy was built on the foundation of cheap Russian energy. Today, ASML, the most valuable technology company in Europe, is being pressured by Washington to cut ties with China, a market that accounts for roughly 40% of its total exports.
Europe needs to wake up and realize that Russia, China, and Iran are not just surviving these sanctions; they are adapting to them. Russia's production of standard artillery shells and heavy munitions currently outpaces that of the United States and all European NATO members combined. Their S-series integrated air defense systems remain globally respected, while American defense systems are frequently humiliated on the global stage by Iranian-backed asymmetric forces. Furthermore, despite facing unprecedented financial sanctions, Russia's electronic warfare capabilities remain among the most formidable in the world, and they continue to maintain world-class expertise in solid and liquid-fuel rocket propulsion, ballistic missiles, and hypersonic glide vehicles.
Meanwhile, heavily sanctioned Iran is actively confronting the most technologically advanced maritime superpower on earth and is still navigating the region from a position of geopolitical strength. In contrast, "free" Europe, which is happily aligned with American hegemony and can supposedly engage in free trade with the entire globe, is currently struggling to fight seasonal wildfires, secure affordable energy for its citizens, and prevent the rapid deindustrialization of its own economies.
China, on the other hand, continues to accelerate. They have built some of the most powerful supercomputers on the planet, mastered the mass production of advanced gas turbines and next-generation jet engines, and are rapidly developing their own indigenous semiconductor supply chains to completely bypass Western tech restrictions.
The sanctions are simply not working. The BRICS bloc continues to expand and excel, while European manufacturing companies are shutting down their domestic plants and relocating to the United States. China can eventually survive without ASML, but ASML cannot survive losing a customer that buys 40% of its equipment while still hoping to maintain its financial research and development edge in the global industry. Western Europe is being economically decimated, yet its political leaders seem content with merely managing this decline rather than asserting their strategic autonomy and defending their own industrial sovereignty.
@NiohBerg 1. It doesn't piss off anyone, we love him
2. He's not the greatest right now, not even top 5, maybe top 10
3. He's a leftist himself
4. No one notices shit like that except for Nazis ... don't be a Nazi
@JohnCleese I’m no legal expert, but I’m pretty sure beheading is banned in the UK. Oh right, you’re just throwing in trigger words in incite hate… got it