I’ve always considered Europe to be a junior partner in imperialism, but, especially since the 2025 trade war capitulation, it seems there has been a qualitative shift in their world status.
Comprador leadership, military occupation, and tech subordination are all hallmarks of a neocolony, and Europe has all 3.
Absolutely. Although this didn’t just start in 2025. It is pretty common knowledge that since NATO was created its main function was always to subordinate Europe. Charles de Gaulle, though in many other respects a reactionary, to his credit temporarily and partially pulled France out of NATO in 1966. The EU and its predecessor the EEC also were constructed for the purpose of simplifying and centralizing US economic and then political control over Europe.
The Eurozone also exists as a tool to centralize European finance and take away currency sovereignty from EU member states.
Correct.
The CIA under Allen Dulles also tried to assassinate de Gaulle in 1961, but Kennedy figured it out and warned him. There were a few other assassination attempts on him that the CIA likely had a hand in.
Other notable mentions: Italy and Greece, where the US successfully thwarted left-wing governments from taking power, and funded fascist paramilitaries.
Europe has largely been under US dominance since the end of WW2, and that was the main reason the US got involved in the war in europe, to prevent it from turning red, as it was clear by 1942 that the soviets would defeat nazi germany. Autonomy is only allowed within certain limits (anti-communism, and a pro-US foreign policy), and if any country strayed too far, they were nudged back in the right direction.
it already is. being from the post socialist part of europe i thought we were getting used by western europe but now im learning we are all being used by the US for their own goals. they use the threat of russia to scare us but the western states have neocolonies in africa where they exploit people and do shit to them worse than what russia ever did to us.
were pacified to this whole situation by the comfort the EU brings us but is an universal chargers for all iphones really worth putting the majority of the world in neocolonial hell, perpetual war and constant genocide. europe is such a tiny portion of the world and racist propaganda makes us see SWANA and south/south-east asia as ”breeding” nations so that we will be fine with billions being tortured
That’s a valuable perspective, thank you for sharing it.
Europe’s been transitioning from imperial core to imperial periphery for quite a while now.
Really it’s just another sign of the decline of the burgerreich, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to exploit the global south so the burgerreich is having to turn to exploiting the shit out of Europe instead.
In the long term it won’t save the US and if anything it will accelerate said decline as America will become even more isolated than previously.
Combine this with the fact that Capitalist Reformism in the United States is about as dead as the dinosaurs and you have a excellent recipe for complete collapse of the burgerreich.
Are Japan and South Korea also in the same boat? They seem even more occupied than Europe despite their global north status.
They’re far worse off than Europe. They have almost no autonomy.
They have less autonomy than Europe but are not quite as thoroughly brainwashed. If the US is forced to pull out of Japan and South Korea I can see these countries flipping to China’s side (at least South Korea…Japan may be too racist for that). If the US pulled out of Europe the EU would still willingly continue to act as loyal vassals.
I was thinking of it from the perspective that Europe still has, albeit worthless, an army. They have a some autonomy to do things the US doesn’t agree with or doesn’t support.
Japan had their constitution written by the US. SK’s constitution states that in times of war, the military’s command will be handed to the US.
Those are very blatant vassal traits. Economic exploitation is one thing, but the US would legally turn these countries into Ukraine when time comes
yes
Time to choose wisely, Europe.
Spoiler: they wont
I think calling it an neocolony is a bit too far IMHO. Western Europe, as we don’t need to talk about Eastern Europe really, does subordinate a lot to US capital. It also kinda shows those hallmarks you listed above. But it’s just not simple.
You could see for instance during the Zelensky talks in the beginning of the year, how US and EU interests started to differ and clash. The EU fought hard to keep US support for Ukraine coming and also tried to hinder peace talks between Russia and the US as much as possible. There was even an initiative to do the war without the US and increase the support, if it came that far. Also the fight for Greenland (though also kind of comical IMO), was an intensification of that clash.
This is a major contradiction for the EU and of the western world overall.
But I still see the EU as a major imperialist. What I think is happening is, that the EU capital knows its current weaknesses on the geopolitical scale. It tries to stay in the tow of US Imperialism for as much as possible to then use the overspeed to take the crown, so to speak and when the US inevitably falls, to take as much of the then ‘free’ markets as they can. You can easily tell by the huge rearmament taking place, that they are ready to take it by force.
I don’t rate the chance of success very high for the EU, but still that’s my two cents on the matter.
imo the ukraine stuff in and of itself is a hallmark of subordination to the us. it would be in the eu’s best interest to forge ties with russia. it would be in russia’s interest too. but instead, they’ve sanctioned russian fossil fuels and they’ve destroyed their own renewable sector, which leaves them burning woodchips in the winter for electricity. they may attempt rearmament in an effort to feed off the scraps of the empire, and they might use ukraine as a pretext to do it. but even still, the war in ukraine has left europe increasingly dependent on the empire for energy. imo the attempts to keep the us in the war are more representative of an ideological subversion that leaves them completely dedicated to a conflict that only benefits the empire.
As I said before, I don’t deny that there aren’t any signs of subordination (or rather neocolonialism), but I just don’t think the matter can be answered in such a binary way. Of course the EU capital is in a very bad place currently and is losing on a lot (if not all) of the fronts, which is why they are subordinating/losing more to US capital. But that does not make them a neocolony.
I agree that cheap energy is in the best interest of the EU, because their industries depended on that for a long long time and they gutted the alternatives. I think I need to be more precise and say German industry mostly. But I disagree that it’s just the result of the EU capital losing with the US capital or rather subordinating. There are notable contradictions inside the EU as well, as even before the war, europeans had very different opinions on Russia and f.e. the Nordstream pipeline (see Poland’s stance on that matter).
I also disagree that they are rearming just to feed off the scraps of the burgerreich. Yes, that’s also a part of the reason for rearmament as are the profits in their own military industrial complex, but I think the imperial ambitions and the need for new markets for their capital is the primary reason, to see their economies get better that way.
oh i certainly didn’t mean to imply they were imperial periphery. one look at the european people and their spectacular white supremacy would make that sound pretty silly. i guess it just seems kinda like their need for energy would vastly outweigh whatever they’re trying to do with russia if the us didn’t have their thumbs on the scale. at the very least i’m not sure why else they wouldn’t invest in nuclear or renewables or something before they started with the ukraine shit. with the us i know the oil companies have backed a lot of anti-nuclear protests. but in europe they’re dependent on amerikkkan petroleum, so what else could be pushing them to stay that way?
imo the ukraine stuff in and of itself is a hallmark of subordination to the us
You miss one important thing: the existance of unlimited European racism. Even IF Russia had looked like the better alternative over the US (it didn’t) once normalization started in the late 90s/early 2000s, I still don’t think the Europeans would cooperate to mutual benefit – we truly are that racist. Which makes it even more frustrating given that
it would be in the eu’s best interest to forge ties with russia
is true.
Subordination to the US is defo one thing, but never ever underestimate how western European racism shapes our material conditions.
Yep. Racism plays a huge role in why the EU willingly allows itself to be dominated by the US. They would rather be vassals to the US than equal partners with black and brown and asian countries. The US can no longer offer material benefits but it still offers the ideological satisfaction of feeling superior to the non-whites.
oh of course i didn’t mean to downplay the effects of european orientalism. honestly, russia could easily have become another part of western europe if things weren’t like they are. ik russia was willing to get a lot closer to the west at one point. i don’t know what exactly kept the us from making russia another oil kingdom like saudi arabia but i know the europeans would get a little bit upset. honestly it’s a miracle they can even get along with each other. but i guess i’m kinda digressing now.
(Western) Europe is part of the imperial core
I suggest you listen to this talk by Richard Wolf! It might not be the most in-detail one you will hear, but it let’s you see the process.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Richard Wolff is a reformist and not a reliable source.
I disagree because currently all of the pressure on Europe is based on its upper-tier position in the value chain. What does trump threaten them with? Taking away their lucrative resale of coffee beans. I don’t think they grow those near the roasters 😀
The post-ww2 division of labor was that the US would play world cop to keep the global south in line, and europe would remain anti-communist bulwarks.
Their status as imperial core nations is entirely dependent on the US military subjugating low wage nations.
