[familyop]

"All three of them have visions of power and empire that I do not trust."

...a further word about that. We Americans are averted to "empire" and are particularly sensitive to renewed efforts to involve us in it or say that we are already willingly involved in it. We defend and even occupy to defend ourselves, if necessary. But most Americans want our troops out of foreign countries as soon as we can get them out, unless those countries become very friendly allies and want our continued assistance. We don't want our government to govern other countries unless temporarily necessary to our survival and theirs (e.g., Iraq).

Our most common mindset on empire is much the way it was with the Monroe Doctrine (early 1800s US decision to prevent any country, including our own, from ruling any areas of Central or South America to force wealth from them). We are averted to employing poeples of countries outside of our own for the purpose of forcing them to produce for us. That was even one point of contention in our Civil War, as the South wanted to claim and develop plantations with slaves south of our border.

[CWOJackson]

France and Germany unsuccessfully tried to set themselves up as the ruling powers of the EU. It did not work. Instead of a coalition of European states ceding power to those two nations we have a fractured and faltering EU.

To add to Germany's situation, through reunification they inherited half a nation that had grown up under Soviet domination, and a lot of politic ans of the "East" Germany persuasion. Most worrisome, just like in Russia, nationalism is on the rise. Last month two thousand Nazis marched past Rudolph Hess's grave. In Germany they are currently making a movie that portrays Hitler in a good light.

Combine that with the empire Putin desires and people should be cautious.