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Comment by zolbrek | Hacker News Reader

As someone who lives in Europe I would prefer to remain a subject of the Great American Empire than get swallowed up by the Russians or the Chinese, and I doubt Europe alone will ever have the military might necessary to defend its sovereignty against a possible Russian-Chinese-Iranian axis. Even if the US decides to give up its role as the world's judge, jury, and executioner, how long would a absolute insular existence last, and what would life for Americans under those conditions be like?

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> and I doubt Europe alone will ever have the military might necessary to defend its sovereignty against a possible Russian-Chinese-Iranian axis.

That's mostly a political/budget choice.

US: what, a bit over 300M people? EU: some ~550M? Both advanced economies.

US military might is a result of budget, raw manufacturing capability, and a glut of defense-related industry. Which (obviously) also sells their warez abroad.

No fundamental reason the EU couldn't obtain similar capabilities. But EU countries simply chose to outsource much defense design & manufacturing, apply a smaller budget, and rely on the US in several ways.

I'm sure some of this was regretted since Russia-Ukraine war started. Not sure if (given time) that's enough to bring EU up to military self-sufficiency.

I agree, and I don't think the EU will be able to militarize to the degree required in the coming years. The language differences and the individual militaries of the various EU countries make coherency on the field more complicated than it is for the US, and only a fraction of European soldiers participate in NATO exercises.

Both France and the UK have nuclear weapons. You'll be fine.

I'm assuming a purely conventional conflict since there's no telling how bad the shitshow will get if nukes start being exchanged.

We don’t know how well maintained Russia’s nukes are. US has invested a lot in deterrence of ICBMs and Missiles.

So if both Russia and US were to fire their ICBMs in quick succession (mutually assured destruction) scenario, it’s likely the US ones will be a lot more potent. Most Russians are clustered on the west near Moscow.

US cities would still be hit and it would be very devastating, but Russia and China would be obliterated.

Death toll would be in the billions.

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