Thank you for this…war for whimsy cannot be won. No national interest, no policy, no strategy, just capabilities deployed because they exist and Trump gets a dopamine hit watching things explode.
The pleasure principle as foreign policy. “Fun” as justification for bombing. Intermittent reinforcement like a slot machine—-double down when it stops feeling good, chase the next hit.
Meanwhile, while America bombs, China builds.
I just wrote about this, as Trump is burning billions on a war that serves no strategic purpose while China is mass-producing EVs, dominating battery supply chains, and positioning itself as the renewable energy infrastructure provider for the Global South. They’re preparing for the energy transition (the actual future) while we’re stuck in oil-dependent extraction logic launching missiles for entertainment.
Iran doesn’t need to win militarily. They just need to outlast Trump’s attention span and keep oil prices high enough to accelerate the transition that destroys hegemony. Every bomb we drop is a battery sold in Shenzhen. Every day Hormuz stays closed is another country signing energy deals with Beijing instead of Washington.
War without national interest is just expensive performance art.
Spot on—-you can’t celebrate blowing things up and call it strategy. But the deeper problem is we’re celebrating blowing things up while China’s building what actually matters for the next fifty years.
China, and most Asian nations, play a long term game with clearly defined strategic objectives. The United States, especially under Trump, expects immediate results. If we don't achieve them in a relatively short time, we lose interest and move on to something else. Trump and Hegseth are a disastrously bad pair. Trump has never been to war and takes pleasure in blowing things up and killing people. Hegseth has been to war and apparently learned no more than Trump did about the nature of modern warfare.
Wow Johan, you're spot on and I agree 100%. There is no doubt rTump is following orders from Putin making Russia a real threat, but the most concerning threat is really China!! They are building for the future while we slide back into the past.
Great quote! He knew! Yes 61 does run through Northern Minnesota up to Canada. There’s a musical link too as it’s also in Mississippi where it’s known as the Blues Highway, runs through Clarksdale, the “Birth Place of the Blues”.
Speaking of tunes, Karen, to which do all U.S. higher-grade military officers harken?
Timothy Snyder understands the prevailing tune now, where "an unchecked leader uses the power of the state to make war in order to please himself."
All of our higher-grade military officers accept that as their highest given -- that the criminal in the White House above all must be pleased.
We all know why none can muster the imagination to see that some orders from elites and authorities might be illegal -- and ought not be obeyed. So what's the name of the culture these obeisant officers so mechanically follow instead? Is it the one where elites and authorities give all only the choices A)-B)-C)-D), as if there's no other reality, as if no one can question any elites and authorities and their simple-minded A)-B)-C)-D)?
Phil B., U.S. Army Spec. 5 Vietnamese translator/interpreter 2 Sept. 1969 -- 4 Apr. '72
Thank you for this insightful article. Perhaps one elephant is missing from the article: Israel. They certainly see this war, which they manipulated Donnie into, as being in their national interest and as good policy (obtaining full dominion over the Middle East). Moreover, Bibi can secure his re-election and stay out of jail by killing as many mullahs as possible. So perhaps it's just the tail wagging the dog here. And the tick on the dog's head is enjoying it.
You have to watch CNN toe seewhat Bibi is up to in Lebanon....actual journalists reporting from the front on the endless bombing, death and destruction in Lebanon, in an apparent effort to take over southern Lebanon. And they haven't stopped in Gaza - bombed a refugee camp this week and we could watch. Why wouldn't they? We give them the money and the weapons and Bibi doesn't have to face the court.
Trump is King therefore he is the State and the sole national interest. So the war is fought for his pleasure and at his pleasure. Besides a respite from the Epstein files, Trump is allowing a nation with whom he is at war to enrich themselves by selling oil. And a nation - Russia - who is helping the nation with whom Trump is at war with improve its position with fewer sanctions and funding its own war effort. And almost all elected Republicans are OK with this, which is insane. Our media maintains the fantasy that we are still a democratic republic when we are clearly not.
It makes me shudder. Imagine how the leaders of NATO feel about the thoughtfulness and strategy of their (former? current?) ally. Per TS: "Leaders fail to understand what is going on. In the case of Donald Trump, they are shown two-minute sizzle reels of “stuff blowing up“ rather than being briefed."
Thank you Tim for your enlightening analysis on this No Kings Day. For me, while I’ve attended the last 2 marches, I’ve been skeptical of their ultimate value to move the needle. I now realize that we don’t know how any of this will end. So showing up with others and resisting complacency is in itself important. No sense in speculating about ultimate outcomes. We can stand together even if only for a few hours this afternoon, and be there for the next one!!
There's more to do! Sign up to ACT. It can be hyper local mutual aid. It can be planting a garden to donate to food banks. It can be signing up for a timebank like Hourworld. It can be joining Indivisible, 50501, your state's ICE watch organization (you can do back-end work if you can't do the patrols or phone lines). Protests are the first step, but next is that we need to act. We The People are the only one doing a damn thing.
Timothy, thank you for articulating the Pedoligarch’s latest entertainment whimsy. Clearly the reality show “star” was upset about the TrumpStein Files (& not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize) and wanted something fun for himself. Of course, his shitfaced drunk defense fool and calculating evil Miller cheered him. I’m expecting a terrorist attacked here, likely self inflicted, so the midterms are jeopardized.
You write: "And Trump’s pleasure principle elicits the pleasure of others. Now people around him are making money. And his patron Vladimir Putin is doing very well indeed."
This connects to what Aaron David Miller told Ari Velshi yesterday on The Last Word:
Trump has no strategy - he is only motivated by Money, Power & Glory.
Dear Dr. Snyder. Thank you for including the Escher print within your article. It is vivid in its description of our turbulent era. Determining the initiation or ending of events that are motivated by a megalomaniac living in fear, grasping at any straw that will provide a moment of sanctuary, is a pitiful existence. It seems obvious that the "leader of the free world" has been engulfed in a fantasy, creating his own reality with no hint of the consequences that will ensue. God help us.
I have some questions about the idea that Trump is using the war as a pretext for more power grab, for suspending elections, etc. Why didn't Bush suspend elections after 9/11? Do you think he could have done so and gotten away with it or was the time not yet ripe for that? Is the time ripe for that now? Did Bush have no ambition to BE an autocrat like Trump? I tend to think the war has more to do with fulfilling Israeli interests than anything. Well, Israeli interests AND pleasing our coalition of several groups: 1) supernationalists like "No More Mr. Nice Guy" Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Hegseth, young Republicans, echoed in right wing social media like podcaster Steve Deace, for example; 2) Messianic dreamers like Hegseth, Huckabee, Evangelicals. 3) last gasp fossil fuel extractors and the parties that stand to gain financially, including Putin, MBS, Kushner, oil and gas producing states in America.
Thank you for this…war for whimsy cannot be won. No national interest, no policy, no strategy, just capabilities deployed because they exist and Trump gets a dopamine hit watching things explode.
The pleasure principle as foreign policy. “Fun” as justification for bombing. Intermittent reinforcement like a slot machine—-double down when it stops feeling good, chase the next hit.
Meanwhile, while America bombs, China builds.
I just wrote about this, as Trump is burning billions on a war that serves no strategic purpose while China is mass-producing EVs, dominating battery supply chains, and positioning itself as the renewable energy infrastructure provider for the Global South. They’re preparing for the energy transition (the actual future) while we’re stuck in oil-dependent extraction logic launching missiles for entertainment.
Iran doesn’t need to win militarily. They just need to outlast Trump’s attention span and keep oil prices high enough to accelerate the transition that destroys hegemony. Every bomb we drop is a battery sold in Shenzhen. Every day Hormuz stays closed is another country signing energy deals with Beijing instead of Washington.
War without national interest is just expensive performance art.
Spot on—-you can’t celebrate blowing things up and call it strategy. But the deeper problem is we’re celebrating blowing things up while China’s building what actually matters for the next fifty years.
—Johan
Well said: Trump & Co celebrate blowing things up and call it strategy while China’s building what actually matters for the next fifty years.
China, and most Asian nations, play a long term game with clearly defined strategic objectives. The United States, especially under Trump, expects immediate results. If we don't achieve them in a relatively short time, we lose interest and move on to something else. Trump and Hegseth are a disastrously bad pair. Trump has never been to war and takes pleasure in blowing things up and killing people. Hegseth has been to war and apparently learned no more than Trump did about the nature of modern warfare.
Hegseth served under a commander who was disciplined for committing war crimes. The lesson he took was YAY WAR CRIMES, and also ICK GIRLS.
I've always said that we plan for the next quarter and China plans for the next century.
Wow Johan, you're spot on and I agree 100%. There is no doubt rTump is following orders from Putin making Russia a real threat, but the most concerning threat is really China!! They are building for the future while we slide back into the past.
Oh. You're right. I hadn't connected back to China's energy investments. And I want one of their cheap fast-charging cars, so I should have.
As that great American Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan foretold:
"Now, the roving gambler he was very bored
Trying to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said, "I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes, I think it can be very easily done
We'll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61"
I'm not American, but I think Highway 61 runs through Minnesota.
Great quote! He knew! Yes 61 does run through Northern Minnesota up to Canada. There’s a musical link too as it’s also in Mississippi where it’s known as the Blues Highway, runs through Clarksdale, the “Birth Place of the Blues”.
Good comment
Thank you. 100 or so years of American music is good reason for hope.
Speaking of tunes, Karen, to which do all U.S. higher-grade military officers harken?
Timothy Snyder understands the prevailing tune now, where "an unchecked leader uses the power of the state to make war in order to please himself."
All of our higher-grade military officers accept that as their highest given -- that the criminal in the White House above all must be pleased.
We all know why none can muster the imagination to see that some orders from elites and authorities might be illegal -- and ought not be obeyed. So what's the name of the culture these obeisant officers so mechanically follow instead? Is it the one where elites and authorities give all only the choices A)-B)-C)-D), as if there's no other reality, as if no one can question any elites and authorities and their simple-minded A)-B)-C)-D)?
Phil B., U.S. Army Spec. 5 Vietnamese translator/interpreter 2 Sept. 1969 -- 4 Apr. '72
Thank you for this insightful article. Perhaps one elephant is missing from the article: Israel. They certainly see this war, which they manipulated Donnie into, as being in their national interest and as good policy (obtaining full dominion over the Middle East). Moreover, Bibi can secure his re-election and stay out of jail by killing as many mullahs as possible. So perhaps it's just the tail wagging the dog here. And the tick on the dog's head is enjoying it.
Bibi, Putin and Mohammed Bin Salman.
You have to watch CNN toe seewhat Bibi is up to in Lebanon....actual journalists reporting from the front on the endless bombing, death and destruction in Lebanon, in an apparent effort to take over southern Lebanon. And they haven't stopped in Gaza - bombed a refugee camp this week and we could watch. Why wouldn't they? We give them the money and the weapons and Bibi doesn't have to face the court.
It's being reported that Israel is looking more overstretched over time. Bible may not be able to keep this up for much longer.
Trump probably started and ended with capabilities because he believed Netanyahu had the rest of the logic chain covered.
What a totally self absorbed imbecile we have for a president. Get out and resist today, March 28.
Trump is King therefore he is the State and the sole national interest. So the war is fought for his pleasure and at his pleasure. Besides a respite from the Epstein files, Trump is allowing a nation with whom he is at war to enrich themselves by selling oil. And a nation - Russia - who is helping the nation with whom Trump is at war with improve its position with fewer sanctions and funding its own war effort. And almost all elected Republicans are OK with this, which is insane. Our media maintains the fantasy that we are still a democratic republic when we are clearly not.
It makes me shudder. Imagine how the leaders of NATO feel about the thoughtfulness and strategy of their (former? current?) ally. Per TS: "Leaders fail to understand what is going on. In the case of Donald Trump, they are shown two-minute sizzle reels of “stuff blowing up“ rather than being briefed."
This should be required reading for every damn member of Congress.
Thank you Tim for your enlightening analysis on this No Kings Day. For me, while I’ve attended the last 2 marches, I’ve been skeptical of their ultimate value to move the needle. I now realize that we don’t know how any of this will end. So showing up with others and resisting complacency is in itself important. No sense in speculating about ultimate outcomes. We can stand together even if only for a few hours this afternoon, and be there for the next one!!
There's more to do! Sign up to ACT. It can be hyper local mutual aid. It can be planting a garden to donate to food banks. It can be signing up for a timebank like Hourworld. It can be joining Indivisible, 50501, your state's ICE watch organization (you can do back-end work if you can't do the patrols or phone lines). Protests are the first step, but next is that we need to act. We The People are the only one doing a damn thing.
Timothy, thank you for articulating the Pedoligarch’s latest entertainment whimsy. Clearly the reality show “star” was upset about the TrumpStein Files (& not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize) and wanted something fun for himself. Of course, his shitfaced drunk defense fool and calculating evil Miller cheered him. I’m expecting a terrorist attacked here, likely self inflicted, so the midterms are jeopardized.
You write: "And Trump’s pleasure principle elicits the pleasure of others. Now people around him are making money. And his patron Vladimir Putin is doing very well indeed."
This connects to what Aaron David Miller told Ari Velshi yesterday on The Last Word:
Trump has no strategy - he is only motivated by Money, Power & Glory.
Oh how I wish your writing was required reading at every high school in America. Thank you for this Tim Snyder 💔🇺🇸
Great suggestion, Kelly. Perhaps Tim would be willing to gift a subscription of Thinking About to interested High School Social Studies teachers .
Well thought and said. I also wonder, could this have been a test of MAVEN, the AI Palantir war program?
maybe, and some form of promotion
Dear Dr. Snyder. Thank you for including the Escher print within your article. It is vivid in its description of our turbulent era. Determining the initiation or ending of events that are motivated by a megalomaniac living in fear, grasping at any straw that will provide a moment of sanctuary, is a pitiful existence. It seems obvious that the "leader of the free world" has been engulfed in a fantasy, creating his own reality with no hint of the consequences that will ensue. God help us.
I have some questions about the idea that Trump is using the war as a pretext for more power grab, for suspending elections, etc. Why didn't Bush suspend elections after 9/11? Do you think he could have done so and gotten away with it or was the time not yet ripe for that? Is the time ripe for that now? Did Bush have no ambition to BE an autocrat like Trump? I tend to think the war has more to do with fulfilling Israeli interests than anything. Well, Israeli interests AND pleasing our coalition of several groups: 1) supernationalists like "No More Mr. Nice Guy" Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Hegseth, young Republicans, echoed in right wing social media like podcaster Steve Deace, for example; 2) Messianic dreamers like Hegseth, Huckabee, Evangelicals. 3) last gasp fossil fuel extractors and the parties that stand to gain financially, including Putin, MBS, Kushner, oil and gas producing states in America.
And wars that come down to one word cannot be won either. This is especially so when that one word is one like, let us say, "Epstein."
Just wondering if Trump and Hegseth get the same charge when they see American bases get blown up?
This is a great article and a testament to the caliber of its leaders. As well the character of this rag tag “administration”.