America Laments Europe’s Military Weakness

But America does nothing but weaken Europe. [The Rude Awakening] December 12, 2023 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [SEVEN PREDICTIONS SUMMIT]( America Laments Europe’s Military Weakness [Sean Ring] SEAN RING Whenever I thumb through The Wall Street Journal, usually out of boredom, I often find articles that are right for the wrong reason. After all, Europe is weaker than a women’s soccer team playing a decent boys high school team. American taxpayers are right to be angry about funding 70% of NATO. However, The Journal fails to mention that Europe is weak because of America. After all, if you’re going to keep the Americans in, the Russians out, and the Germans down, it’s going to cost you in money and manpower. It’s little wonder that the Germans have no military when one of your quiet goals is to keep them down. For thirty years, the USG has said to the Europeans, “Nah, we’ve got this,” to maintain demonic hegemonic possession of a vassal continent with no domestic champion. It was easy to maintain this possession, especially when a drunk like Yeltsin was running the Russian show… into the ground. It was easy to maintain this possession when Europeans were trying to talk themselves into becoming a superpower no one wanted (including the European populace). They only want freedom of movement (to holiday) and a common currency (again, to holiday). But the elephant in the room is Ukraine. Let’s face it; if Ukraine were beating Russia, no one would give a toss about what kind of military Europe has. Because it wouldn’t matter. But now, Moscow is viewed as a direct threat. That’s because Ukraine is getting its ass kicked. I do not mean to be flippant. It’s a fact. Ukrainian casualties outnumber Russian ones by seven to one. The Ukrainians are taking an extraordinary - and unnecessary - beating. And the West is running out of ammo, patience, and eagerness. Let’s see what’s going on. [Claim a copy of the most dangerous book in America right now.]( This is the only book I’ve ever read that brings to life the horrifying fallout of a massive international currency war. A war that’s playing out as we speak. In fact, this book is so hair-raisingly accurate… I’m offering to send you a copy for free today as a way to help prepare you for what could happen next. But with only 500 copies in stock, once we are out, they could be gone for good. [Simply click here now]( and I’ll show you what to do. [Click Here To Learn More]( Be Careful What You Wish For From The Journal: The British military—the leading U.S. military ally and Europe’s biggest defense spender—has only around 150 deployable tanks and perhaps a dozen serviceable long-range artillery pieces. So bare was the cupboard that last year the British military considered sourcing multiple rocket launchers from museums to upgrade and donate to Ukraine, an idea that was dropped. France, the next biggest spender, has fewer than 90 heavy artillery pieces, equivalent to what Russia loses roughly every month on the Ukraine battlefield. Denmark has no heavy artillery, submarines, or air-defense systems. Germany’s army has enough ammunition for two days of battle. This is plainly embarrassing. If Pooty-Poot wanted to invade, he probably could. But that’s the thing. Russia never had designs on continental Europe. Sure, it wanted to keep its sphere of influence intact. But it wasn’t going to roll through Europe anytime soon. The damn neocons saw to it that Europe was scared of a Russian invasion that wouldn’t - couldn’t, really - happen. But the drumroll of war had to go on, or how was the military-industrial complex going to get paid? Another huge issue was the cheap energy Russia was supplying Europe. America wanted a piece of that business, but shipped LNG is much more expensive than pipelined gas. Something had to happen. And that was the Nordstream pipeline explosion. American Recriminations Again, from The Journal: Much of Europe’s industrial capacity to make weapons has eroded over years of budget cuts, and turning that around is a challenge at a time when most governments face budget constraints amid slow economic growth and aging populations, as well as large political opposition to cutting back on welfare spending to fund defense. Europe has “systematically demilitarized itself because it didn’t need to spend the money,” thanks to the lack of an apparent threat and U.S. military dominance around the globe, said Anthony King, a professor of war studies at the University of Warwick. “They have basically gone to sleep.” The Ukraine war has made clear the depth of Europe’s problem. We’ve established that Europe’s weapons readiness is in a dire state. And yes, they could’ve done more to prepare themselves over the last thirty years. But again, why would they? They had the U.S. do everything for them. Instead, Europe built good infrastructure, fair to middling healthcare, and an uneven economy in the intervening years. But lately, Europe’s deindustrialization is happening because they approved of and upheld the sanctions the US applied to Russia. There’s no more cheap energy in Europe. The euro, more toilet paper than currency, invites capital flight to America. In short, Europe is getting a raw deal because of its vassalage status vis-a-vis America. How bad is it? Again, from The Journal: European nations have pledged billions in aid to Kyiv but have said they face economic constraints and production limits on weapons. If the U.S. pulls back from providing the bulk of aid, Europe doesn’t have the stockpiles to make up the difference, nor can it resupply Ukraine and rebuild its own forces at the same time. The head of NATO’s military committee, Dutch Adm. Rob Bauer, said this year that Europe could now “see the bottom of the barrel” in terms of what it could offer Ukraine. The European Union looks unlikely to keep a promise to supply a million desperately needed artillery shells to Kyiv by this spring, achieving only around a third of that so far. North Korea, an impoverished dictatorship with a population of 25 million, has shipped over a million shells to Russia in the same period, according to Western officials and Russian government statements. If communist North Korea is outproducing you, it’s really not good, is it? Wrap Up Homer Simpson once said of alcohol that it was “the cause of, and solution to, life’s problems.” I think America may feel the same way about Europe. Europe isn’t a single cohesive unit, much to the chagrin of most US politicians. It’s a diverse economy with goals relative to its internal self. It’s not here to be the “hegemon.” Europe doesn’t care. Soon, Europe may find itself between the US and Russia during peace talks. Have a great day. All the best, [Sean Ring] Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening X (formerly Twitter): [@seaniechaos]( In Case You Missed It… Is the Uranium Rally Just Beginning? [Sean Ring] SEAN RING When I chatted with Rick Rule the other week, he said, “The easy money has been made in uranium.” I’m sure he’s correct, as uranium was a hated asset early this year and has rallied 50% since that bottom. The URA ETF was trading at $9 pre-Covid and has nearly tripled since then. Since the Covid bottom, it’s quadrupled. [The rude] We may have a ways to go with this rally, especially if URA breaks above $30. Let’s walk through uranium and its growing importance to the energy market. The Cat’s Out of the Bag [Last week]( COP28 President and CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: I accepted to come to this meeting to have a sober and mature conversation. I’m not in any way signing up to any discussion that is alarmist. There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C. Basically, the John Kerrys and Al Gores of the world have been unmasked. No one believes the earth will melt if we don’t get temperatures down 1.5C (at an exorbitant cost). So they’ve had to retrench. If you recall, when Fukushima happened in 2011, Merkel’s Germany, in its seemingly bottomless stupidity, canceled all its nuclear reactors. Since Mutti was the face of Europe, many other countries followed suit. (Luckily for them, the French weren’t so stupid.) Germany has returned[to coal plants]( to keep the lights on and industry going. And China and India never got off coal plants. According to [Statista]( at the end of July 2023, these countries had the most coal-fired plants: [The rude] Credit: [Statista]( China and India are at the top of the list. With the climate alarmists feeling their precious agenda taking hit after hit, they’ve felt the need to sound sensible for once. Hence, we need to start talking about clean-burning nuclear energy again. That’s great, as nuclear is indeed the way forward. But there’s one huge obstacle in the way. [[Revealed!] New AI Opportunity Bigger Than The PC?]( Just imagine being able to turn back the clock to the 1980s – right as a new technology known as the PC was getting its start… Seeing the promise of the PC – and captivated by Microsoft’s technology – an early investor decides to put in $500 during the company’s IPO in 1986. As of today, that $500 investment would have turned into a fortune worth over $1.6 MILLION. I bring this up because we are at the dawn of a new innovation which could be even BIGGER than the PC. [I’m talking about artificial intelligence, or AI](. According to Yahoo Finance, “we are on the cusp of a technological revolution that will fundamentally change how we live our lives.” And you have the chance to invest on the ground floor… [Click here now to see the 3 tiny AI stocks best positioned to profit](. [Click Here To Learn More]( RUSSIA! Now, Russia, per se, isn’t the problem. It’s just that two of the biggest uranium-producing countries are former Soviet satellites that use Russian technology to get the uranium out of the ground. [Russia] Credit: [Kitco]( And, of course, the Russians are wise. If they can’t control the reserves, they’ll control the process. So, what does the process look like? From Ore to Energy This process of converting uranium from metal to energy has four main stages: - Mining and Milling: First, uranium is extracted from the ground, similar to other kinds of mining. Once the ore is obtained, it undergoes milling. This involves crushing the ore and treating it with chemicals to separate the uranium from other minerals in the ore. The result is a powder called "yellowcake" (U3O8), the raw form of uranium. - Conversion: The yellowcake is then taken to a conversion facility. It's transformed into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a gas at relatively low temperatures. This step is necessary because it's easier to process uranium in its gaseous form in the next stage. - Enrichment: In nature, uranium consists mainly of two isotopes: U-238 and U-235. U-235 is the fissile one, meaning it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction, but it's only about 0.7% of natural uranium. To be used as fuel in most reactors, this percentage needs to be increased, which is done through enrichment. During enrichment, the concentration of U-235 is increased, often up to about 3-5% for typical reactor fuel. - Fuel Fabrication: The enriched uranium hexafluoride is finally converted into uranium dioxide (UO2) powder and pressed into small pellets. These pellets are then loaded into thin tubes of a special metal alloy to form fuel rods. These rods are assembled into fuel assemblies, which are then ready to be used in a nuclear reactor. So, how does Russia control this process? It may not have the uranium in the ground, but It’s an expert at conversion, enrichment, and fuel fabrication. Uranium’s US Supply Constraints The United States relies on other countries for most of these steps (conversion through fuel fabrication), mainly due to the specialized facilities and technologies required for each stage and economic, environmental, and policy reasons. For example, the U.S. can mine and mill uranium but might depend on other countries for the complex conversion, enrichment, and fabrication processes. This reliance has enormous implications for energy security and policy. There's only one US-owned converter and no US-owned enricher for the current fleet of nuclear reactors. Meanwhile, Russia dominates both of those steps. From a 2022 article in [The Wall Street Journal]( (bolds mine): Russian uranium enrichment accounts for around 35% of the global market, according to UxC. Uranium’s conversion into a gas is the other weak link in the supply chain. The only commercial uranium conversion plants outside of Russia operate in France and Canada. The sole U.S. plant in Illinois has been idled since 2017, though it is scheduled to come online again in 2023, according to owner Honeywell International Inc. China has uranium conversion and enrichment plants but tends to supply its own reactors instead of exporting to other countries. The price of raw uranium is the most visible part of the market, but costs for each processing stage are rising, too, as power producers rethink supply chains and sign new deals with Russian companies. Boosting domestic capacity would take several years, said Adam Rodman, founder of hedge fund Segra Capital Management LLC. “This market has become too comfortable despite a fragile supply chain,” he said. Wrap Up The ridiculous sanctions have come back to bite Westerners once again. Once an unloved asset, Uranium is now one of the world’s most sought-after. The U.S. needs to get its house in order just to be able to compete. If not, it’s at the mercy of Russia and its allies. And in this race, there’s no silver medal for second place. All the best, [Sean Ring] Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening Twitter: [@seaniechaos]( [Paradigm]( ☰ ⊗ [ARCHIVE]( [ABOUT]( [Contact Us]( © 2023 Paradigm Press, LLC. 1001 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. 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