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DemocracyKorner: Great Britain and Europe Show the Way Forward [1]
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Date: 2025-03-02
The strong European response to Trump’s rejection of Zelensky on Friday was already covered on DailyKos here, but I thought I’d add a couple of words.
This is exactly what we needed to see. If possible, the significance is even larger than the Ukraine conflict. It strikes to the heart of the global crisis for democracy presented by Donald Trump: Other democratic nations must seize the reins. Today, Great Britain, and other European nations at their side, are doing that.
It is great to see. I hope that this is the beginning of an awakened Europe—one that says, “You know what? We are the cradle of Western civilization. We also, combined, have an enormous globally competitive economy, and multiple nuclear-armed members. We are capable of defending our freedom, and being a beacon for democracy and leading on the world stage. It will take a lot of work, but we are capable of it. Let’s get started.”
Of course, even if they do this, real risk remains. The risk (which I state here as a sad American) is that Trump does not simply pull back from a role of leading the democratic nations of the world—but worse, he fully aligns himself with Putin and the dictators. It is a real risk. But even then, there is nothing to be gained by Europe holding back. The more they can bring their strength to the world stage, the better the odds of success.
Right now, they are trying to pull America along. From the second article linked above:
The prime minister said that such a coalition would rest on the premise that the U.S. will be involved — without deploying its own troops. "That is why I spoke to President Trump last night before we develop the work on this plan," Starmer said.
This strikes me as perfect. Call Trump first, let him know what’s coming, make sure he’s at least not totally against it (one hopes). Keep him in-the-know, tell him how important his support is, give him the chance to come along.
This approach will force Trump to choose with whom to side: democratic Europe, or Putin. We honestly don’t know which he will choose, and need to be prepared for all options. But the way forward on Ukraine—and in the global struggle for democracy—is for European democracies to come together, and step up. Of course, other global democracies are welcome as well. But Europe is center to the Ukrainian conflict, and the banner of leadership is emerging there. Let it continue strong.
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