this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2026
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So now we can add “directly capturing a sovereign leader” to the list of crap the US has done. So what do you think will actually be “the straw that broke the camels back” for world leaders to actually do something? Think it’ll be significant or something mundane?

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[–] mycodesucks@lemmy.world 154 points 5 days ago (4 children)

I hate to say it, but there's no fast answer to that question.

The best answer seems to be what most smart countries are doing right now... slowly unwinding their dependency on the US and finding alternative suppliers for everything critical they need so they can get the leverage they need to criticize and resist. This has the added benefit of isolating the US economically, reducing its currency's ability to influence things.

Over time the US will grow less and less able to throw its weight around, and eventually a tipping point will be reached where picking an ideological fight with the US won't have a major impact. That's when the US will be stopped.

[–] ramble81@lemmy.zip 38 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Logically that makes sense for an elongated timeline, but that also assumes the US doesn’t ramp up their actions, which sadly seems to be the case. So the question is “what then?”

[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 72 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Nations can't ignore the fact that the US has one of the most active militaries in the world. Our Navy is more of less second to none and we have nukes. In the hands of a normal president, we might be fine but you sure as heck know that Trump and his Project 2025 people are just itching to launch one.

This is a situation where there are no good options. The best you can do is continue political pressure, get other nations to rally behind you in the hopes of creating a strong economic resistance.

But the real answer is that we, the US citizens, need to fucking take this country back. I hate to say it but protests simply aren't enough anymore.

[–] Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world 22 points 5 days ago (5 children)

Protests would be a good start

[–] PlaidBaron@lemmy.world 33 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Protests only work if the government feels beholden to its people. It doesnt. Protests arent enough.

[–] BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world 16 points 5 days ago

Strikes, not protests. Put the country literally to a halt

[–] Soulg@ani.social 13 points 4 days ago

There are protests constantly. There was a protest outside the Whitehouse the same day as the Maduro kidnapping.

[–] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 0 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Thank God the protest people are here. They were constantly on Reddit for the last four years saying how Russians need to protest against the dictatorship. Good thing Russians heard that and had the massive protest of Bolotnaya in 2011 and endless protests in the far-east and northern regions in particular. As we know, Russia is a thriving democracy now thanks to the protests. I was wondering when USians are gonna protest away their own tsar.

[–] ngdev@lemmy.zip 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

also the worlds largest air force is the US air force. the second largest is the US army's air force iirc

[–] thebestaquaman@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

I seem to remember reading that the US navy comes in second (which makes sense considering that a single carrier has a larger air wing than most countries air forces) but the point still stands.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Remove the bases in europe and you can only project power with as many you can pile up on an aircraft carrier.

[–] Limerance@piefed.social 1 points 4 days ago

B-2 bombers have a huge range of 11,000 km, that’s extended further by tanker aircraft. They can strike any target in the world. They are better with a fighter escort though, that don’t have that range, and only a single pilot, shortening possible mission time.

The US also has bases around the world outside of Europe. These could be shifted elsewhere, depending on need. The American military is a phenomenal logistics machine. They can fly and ship immense amounts of materiel and can construct huge bases quickly.

There are several middle eastern and Asian countries that host large American bases. The big bases built in Europe, especially Germany act as a hub for the ones in Africa and the Middle East. A place for supplies, hospitals, training, etc. in a safe and nice place.

China is still a fair bit away from having that kind of power projection.

[–] sobchak@programming.dev 2 points 4 days ago

I think the wealthy will get US/corporate-friendly far-right governments in place in many of these countries before countries are able to isolate the US without collapsing their own economy. Seems to be the way things are going at least (far-right politics gaining support nearly everywhere).

[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

The best answer seems to be what most smart countries are doing right now… slowly unwinding their dependency on the US and finding alternative suppliers for everything critical they need so they can get the leverage they need to criticize and resist. This has the added benefit of isolating the US economically, reducing its currency’s ability to influence things.

What Mainland China is trying to do: win over countries alienated or considered hostile by the Americans.