The Greenfield Report with Henry R. Greenfield

Episode 28- Europe's Frozen Response to Ukraine

• Henry R. Greenfield • Season 1 • Episode 28

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The geopolitical tide is shifting beneath our feet, and most Western nations seem content to look the other way. Henry R. Greenfield delivers a blistering assessment of Europe's inadequate response to the Ukraine crisis, contrasting their "solidarity forever" rhetoric with a troubling pattern of inaction and excessive vacation culture.

Drawing on his 50 years of experience across 10 countries, Greenfield exposes the hypocrisy behind the recent World War II victory parade in Beijing, where three authoritarian leaders—Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong-un—none of whom significantly contributed to Japan's defeat, showcased their military might while Western democracies were noticeably absent from commemorations. The parade symbolizes a brazen challenge to the American-European world order that has dominated since 1945.

The consequences are already unfolding. North Korea has deployed 10,000 troops to Ukraine with promises of more, while China supplies Russia with advanced weapons systems. Meanwhile, Europe prepares for festivals and harvests, seemingly more concerned with their next holiday than with the war raging on their continent's edge. Economic alliances shift as China and India purchase Russian oil, circumventing Western sanctions and creating new power dynamics that threaten democratic institutions worldwide. Greenfield's urgent message rings clear: "Wake up, wake up, wake up. Summer is over. There are no more excuses." The question remains whether democratic nations will respond to this challenge before their global leadership position irreversibly slips away. Subscribe to the Greenfield Report for continued insights into the rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape and what it means for our collective future.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Greenfield Report with Henry R Greenfield, your gateway to understanding today's geopolitical landscape. With 50 years of experience across 10 countries, henry shares expert insights on world affairs, offering practical solutions and engaging guest perspectives. Dive into the Greenfield Report for lively discussions on the issues that matter.

Speaker 2:

This is Henry R Greenfield, for the Greenfield Report, from France, where Europe's choices get narrower every day. In the past few weeks, europeans have made a show of unity in their support for Ukraine, even meeting to discuss deploying troops. Of course, nothing was done other than talk, which is the only thing that Europeans seem to be able to do. If you step back for a moment, you have to ask what is their excuse now? I mean, after a very long summer break of endless vacations, I know, as here in the south of France, almost nothing happened for several months, and going up to Paris and other parts of the country, as well as around Europe, there was actually hardly anyone there other than the usual tourists. The French were on vacances, as was the rest of Europe. It has been discussed ad infinitum on the number of weeks of vacations that Europeans have compared to Americans, weeks of vacations that Europeans have compared to Americans you know the US idea of two weeks and in Europe, ranging from a low of four weeks up to Switzerland's lofty 10 weeks which, as my friends in Switzerland put it, it is very difficult to find enough places to go for 10 weeks to use all of their holidays. But try they must, and working hard to find new places for the kids and to hang out and enjoy a long summer, then a long autumn, then winter, then spring. Oh well, it'll be back to it again, summer of 2026.

Speaker 2:

Meanwhile, ukraine has been carrying on in its fight to retain its independence, and all the while, the Europeans, plus the UK, keep showing up in Washington DC to talk with Trump or whatever place they would like to be seen in Europe, all saying solidarity forever. Well, of course, with Ukraine, and planning, and planning, and planning, while Putin bombs and then puts in more drone bombs and murders ever more people every day. So what to do? Could the end of the World War II parade where three dictators finally get them to wake up, none of whom those dictators, by the way, participated in a significant way in the defeat of Japan? In fact, russia, which was then the Soviet Union, was all but a zero participant in the victory over Japan, only coming in at the invitation of President Truman, who thought a full assault on the Japanese main islands would result in a projected casualty rate of at least one million Americans and several million Japanese. We all know how that ended, however, as the two atomic bombs were dropped first on Hiroshima and then on Nagasaki, which afterwards the Japanese finally surrendered, and in fact actually Russia did nothing to make that surrender happen. Nor did they contribute to the end of World War II in Japan.

Speaker 2:

Or my very favorite is Little Kim of North Korea, which was a distant outpost in the Japanese Empire, providing labor and, sadly, comfort women to Japan. Or the Great People's Republic of China, which did not even exist at that time, until several years after World War II, you may recall, china gained its permanent United Nations Security Council seat, along with the United States, the Soviet Union, united Kingdom and France, because the Gomendang, which were the rivals of the PRC, beat the Japanese in World War II with, of course, the massive assistance of the US and its allies. This is not to say that Mao Zedong, of course, did not fight the Japanese. He did, but his primary goal was to beat Chiang Kai-shek, which he also did a few years later, driving the Gomendang over to the island of Taiwan, which is now, of course, the entire dispute between the West and China regarding Taiwan still going on 70 years later. Thus, the massive show of military force in Beijing was by, let's face it, three wannabes who really shouldn't have been there and definitely should not be taking the credit for beating Japan. And, as we wrote on Quora, where were the so-called allies, especially the United States and its primary supporters in the Asia-Pacific theater, australia and the United Kingdom? What no celebrations of the greatest victory in the history of mankind. Nothing for the 80th.

Speaker 2:

Did Trump and his hegemonous clan of ne'er-do-wells not have any time from taking over US cities with National Guard brown shirts to bother to remember the millions who died to beat Nazi Germany or, in this case, imperial Japan, which was then turned into a bastion of democracy, along with South Korea, which was invaded a few years later by you got it North Korea, and then, after that, the newly minted People's Republic of China, on, actually, the day of my birth, no less, november 24th 1950. My mother thought it was a special day. Well, little did she know. What does this mean, actually, though, for Europe, other than a shaming of their doing nothing in Ukraine? Even more nothing in not celebrating democracy's big wins, especially over imperial Japan, and looking like fools, while erstwhile Emperor Xi Jinping proclaimed a new world order and even invited and had Modi of India there, all thumbing their noses at the West and, most importantly, donald J Trump. Well, trump, what did he do? He declared it unfair and he said he didn't like the three of them, all of whom he calls his friends. In addition, you could throw in Modi, his really good friend, as in howdy Modi, ganging up on little old America.

Speaker 2:

He then immediately went back to threatening even more US cities, while his human services head, rfk Jr, cut vaccine mandates, which led to even more resignations and a call for his ouster, all the while the Europeans fretted about what shall we do? As we reported on within weeks of Trump 2.0 commencing in January 2025, the American European century is now way, way, way over and Europe is still dithering on what to do for their future. And to make it worse, what did Xi and little Kim do to assist Putin? Well, xi said he has unlimited weapons for Putin to kill as many Ukrainians as he likes and made sure everyone got to see the latest firepower, which now rivals the US in both breadth and in technology and, of course, in numbers.

Speaker 2:

By the way, as an aside, this was nothing like the ragtag military parade that Trump had that rolled through Washington DC on July 4th, or, I'm sorry, june 14th, which was Trump's birthday, as well as the 250th anniversary of the United States Army, and everybody was there just clumping along in their fatigues. In Beijing, they were doing the lockstep walk If Xi Jinping would say something. They shouted back, tens of thousands in unison, exactly what he wanted them to say, which is China will bow down to no one. China will then retaliate, if necessary and wipe them off the face of the earth. Well done, trump, you know. You really know how to throw a parade. I'm afraid you need to learn a little bit from your friend Xi Jinping.

Speaker 2:

Little Kim, of course, has already sent over 10,000 troops to Ukraine and told Putin he could have as many as he wants. And as Kim has a military of well over a half a million troops with nothing to do but taunt South Korea with an invasion every other week, he can send as many as he wants to, which means that Ukraine could be overwhelmed by a North Korean-style invasion similar to that that started the Korean War in 1950. And to put the cherry on the pie, europe did drumroll nothing, and Trump did a bigger drumroll, now even more nothing. Ukraine did a little drumroll, boom, boom, boom and blew up more ammunition and other strategic targets inside Russia, including petrol refineries, thus causing some local shortages, which Putin, of course, could care less about.

Speaker 2:

The purpose of this Greenfield report is to say to Europe and the Americans and all of our listeners to please talk to any of your representatives, especially the 79-year-old, doddering Donald J Trump Wake up, wake up, wake up. Summer is over. There are no more excuses. See, putin and little Kim keep kicking dirt in yours and Trump's faces and you are doing nothing. And Ukrainians keep dying in the thousands, as well as the Gazans who are also facing starvation Starvation, do you hear that? And declaring a Palestinian state by France and others does not solve it. In the end.

Speaker 2:

Europe and the United States, and even Australia, as well as the United Kingdom and Canada, are all being proven to be a totally ineffective paper tiger group of fat, well-off societies that will do nothing to protect themselves in the future, let alone help Ukraine, or the Gazans for that matter. Europeans the French, for instance are already planning their next strike, for I'm not sure what actually Germans are beginning. Oktoberfest and the harvest of the grapes and everything else in Europe means at least the farmers are working, while everyone else is already complaining about how short their holiday were and when is their next long weekend? Don't worry, it's coming soon, I'm told, and if Putin has his way, he will soon own all of Ukraine, supported by little Kim and tens of thousands of North Korean troops. No worries, no need for allocations, like the Europeans talk about and go on and on and on about, and do nothing. No, little Kim will just send them in and he will go for it.

Speaker 2:

And, of course, xi Jinping is buying up cheap oil from Russia as his Modi in India, buoying up a stagnant debt economy for Russia and also moving India forward with its 50% tariffs that Trump put on them, effectively ruining the economic relationship between the United States and India. And Russia can also have its pick of the latest Chinese weaponry. Why not try them out in Ukraine I guess that's Xi's idea and see how they work and get the bugs out of their new digital AI systems, courtesy of the engineers trained by Apple. You know those millions. They have to have some jobs somewhere, so they will be ready to take on Taiwan without a shot, as Trump will, of course, still be arguing about which next democratic city and blue state he wants to invade, and RFK Jr can, and I am quoting those CDC directors who pushed him to resign. It remains the most dangerous person in the history of the United States for the health of Americans. No, you cannot make up this clown show folks.

Speaker 2:

This is Henry R Greenfield signing off from Europe, awaiting the first blush of Nouveau Beaujolais and the various autumn festival. Oh, that's right. The local ball fights are next week. That should be fun too. Ukraine oh, they need to sort that one out themselves. That's what the Europeans say, don't you know that the Europeans are thousands of kilometers away from the front and Putin will never dare to fight their amazing military, backed by, excuse me, trump. Trump may be leaving NATO, or was it that he died last week? I'm not sure, but then I saw him on TV. What was that again? Nato, nato, nato. Where is NATO?

Speaker 1:

Thank you for joining us on the Greenfield Report with Henry R Greenfield. We hope today's insights into the ever-shifting geopolitical landscape have sparked your curiosity and broadened your perspective. Stay connected with us for more in-depth discussions and expert solutions. Until next time, keep exploring the world beyond the headlines.