During the communist period we, Romanians, saw America as a beacon of hope, something to aspire to. After WWII many were expecting the Americans to come back and help liberate us from the russians. There were russian troops in Romania for years after WWII ended, had road blocks and so on. Even so, collectively we saw America as something to aspire to. Before 1989 people would risk jail and bribe border guards to import things like a few bottles of Pepsi.
Knowing the Romanian fascination with American stuff, the communist authorities decided to make money out of this. In the 1980s video cassettes were bought on the black market. This black market was controlled by Securitate (Romanian version of KGB). In a villa in Bucharest Securitate set up the production of copying American movies. It needed specialist equipment and over 150 of these were employed 24 hours a day. To make the movies accessible, they were dubbed in Romanian. Each video cassette was sold at a good mark-up, making money for the state. The people who bought them could organise “movie nights” in their apartments for friends.
This is a perfect example of what communism means in practice – stealing from US, oppressing the people who want American stuff, and, above all else, the corruption.
I grew up and things changed. I was so happy that Romania joined NATO, we were finally safe from the aggressor in the east. Now, in 2024, US is starting to loose its importance with countries in Eastern Europe. We are seeing how US is acting in Ukraine and it is a disappointment. Ukraine was forced to give up its nukes in the 1990s and received security guarantees from 3 countries: russia, UK, and US. In 2014 Obama & Biden did nothing. Now, 10 years later, US is again showing weakness.
For example, read this article in Forbes – Ukraine Had A Chance To Blow Up Russia’s Best Warplanes On The Tarmac. The White House Said No—And Now It’s Too Late. Ukrainians are asking themselves why is the White House protecting russian planes more than Ukrainian lives. But Ukrainians are not the only ones who are saying this, the rest in Eastern Europe are watching too.
Pepsi is still operating in russia, despite saying that they will pull out. It leaves a bitter taste. While they might be thinking that the people in Eastern Europe don’t see it, we do. Pepsi was not just a drink, it was the taste of freedom, and now is the taste of oppression and imperialism.
What is happening now in US on the political stage is sad to watch. America is the world’s largest national economy. America guaranteed Ukraine’s safety if they would give up their nukes (to russia!), but now many on the right are saying that US is about to go into bankruptcy because of the help to Ukraine?!?
This is how little US is doing for Ukraine. There were various comments from politicians in Eastern Europe on this, especially from those at the top of that table. The three Baltic countries gave so much because they were occupied by russia and they know what that means.
This is the second graph with stock committed to Ukraine. US is giving up less than 5% of stock and imposes stupid restrictions like the ones mentioned above. Meanwhile, Poland and the Czech Republic is committing significantly more. Denmark gave Ukraine all of its air defence systems… ALL! US can’t do that because of its interests, obviously, but it barely reaches 5% of stocks. Also, because of how well some systems worked in Ukraine, other countries are buying hundreds of them. Ukraine has received 39 HIMARS… and Poland has decided to buy 486 of them! That is an incredible amount and it means a lot of money for US manufacturing.
This year there are elections in US and I watch with sadness. The choice is between a party which shows weakness and bows to the russian imperialism. There should be no restriction in the use of weapons, this is according to international laws, but the current American administration is too busy protecting putin. The exchange of prisoners was a shambles. Why did US free up murders and spies and exchanged them for so-called russian opposition? There were no Ukrainians or Crimean Tatars in that exchange. It’s shameful.
The second choice is a party which cares nothing about human rights (women, gay) and their stance in the world. Make America Great Again… forgetting that America can be great only if projects power and whining about some old stock (which is replaced with new one) to be used by a country forced to give up its nukes is just pathetic. That particular party is led by someone who doesn’t even understand what NATO is, with his comments that if a country didn’t pay its “bills”, he would not protect the country from a russian invasion. He also mentioned NATO fees, which, again, shows that he doesn’t actually understand how NATO works and what NATO is.
While I rarely mention politics and almost never on how I would vote, I know for sure that if I had the chance I would vote for Kamala.
I used to see America as a force for good, with its imperfections (some really big) and its peculiarities. I used to feel happy and safe that Romania was in NATO. Now, in 2024, I am so disappointed with US for allowing itself to reach this point. If tomorrow Romania would vote in a referendum for the development of nuclear weapons, I would fly to vote yes. I used to trust US, now…
I don’t see the current administration as placating Putin in any way, even with the weapons restrictions. It’s a matter of protecting itself FROM Putin. And, I have a feeling that could change if the election goes well. Of course, it will be for nothing if the House and Senate do not support. Economic issues here seem to take precedence, which is a shame. Our international reputation was in tatters under Trump and Biden has brought it back to a degree. Harris will continue that. Trump, on the other hand, is in Putin’s pocket and he absolutely must not win. If he wins there will be no money or support for Ukraine (or probably NATO too.
That’s fascinating about the effect of America in post WWII Romania, the films and all. I’d not thought about that.
Thank you for this very informative post- I didnt realise just how low down we and the US are on the contributions stake. I think the choice in the US is very poor!
I understand what you are saying. But as one who lives in the US, I also know that it’s a far more complicated situation than I can adequately address in a comment, and naturally we’re going to view a lot of it differently. Some things are just best discussed in person, face to face, which of course is an impossibility. There are so many issues at stake in the US and the two major parties never (or rarely) agree on any of them. I’ve always said that most Americans end up “voting their pocketbook” in an election, but even that’s not clear cut anymore. Harris needs to do more talking about issues other than women’s rights because unfortunately that issue most often lies with the individual states I’m not sure what she can do on a national level. (don’t get me started on my governor and my state’s track record on women’s issues!) I want to know more about her stance on fiscal issues among others things. Bottom line, no matter who wins the Oval Office, the House and Senate have to be taken into consideration, as well.
I think you and I would agree on many things. The situation is very complex indeed and each voter has their own priorities, in which foreign policy is probably not as important, I know that. My post and musings were about US and how badly it looks in the eyes of people who loved everything American. I really can’t emphasise enough how important those American movies were. Those created the image of a strong country fighting for freedom and liberty. Unlike other countries, US’ is strong if projects power. Messages of “we don’t care what happens to Ukraine” (Vance) or “let putin invade Europe” (Trump), when US was the single country so far to invoke Art5 damage US and its position among their strongest allies. For instance, a survey in Europe from a few year ago showed that Poland had the strongest pro-US views, followed by Romanians (78%!), despite Romanians still needing visas to travel to US.
What happens on the political stage are a symptom of the wider society’s decline. I fully agree that the discussion should be on policy and this is not happening only in US, in UK there were attacks and very little on policy, besides the: “our party wants economic growth to create new jobs and strong finance for the country”. Well… all parties want that, it’s not a policy, it’s a wishlist.