by
Win
McNamee/Getty
Images)
Suppose
Portugal,
instead
of
the
United
States,
did
it.
Suppose
Portugal
announced
that
it
wanted
France
to
be
its
newest
state.
Governor
Macron,
and
all
that.
How
would
the
world
react?
Lunatic
at
the
helm,
maybe?
Suppose
Portugal
said
that
it
intended
to
take
over
Greenland
—
preferably
by
negotiation,
but
by
force,
if
necessary.
What
would
we
think
of
the
Portuguese
leader? Would
we
be coming
to
take
him
away,
ha-haaa?
Suppose
Portugal
imposed
ridiculously
high
tariffs
on
the
rest
of
the
world.
Portugal’s
economy
doesn’t
really
matter
in
the
scheme
of
things,
so
I
guess
the
rest
of
the
world
would
just
let
’em
do
it,
and
let
Portugal
suffer
the
consequences.
Suppose
Portugal
started
blowing
up
fishing
boats
off
the
coast
of
Great
Britain,
saying
that
the
boats
harbored
drug
smugglers,
and
Portugal
wasn’t
going
to
let
the
criminals
get
away
with
it
any
more.
Would
the
U.K.
sit
still?
Suppose
Portugal
launched
a
military
raid
to
capture
the
president
of
another
country.
Would
the
rest
of
the
world
tell
Portugal
not
to
do
such
things?
Suppose
the
president
of
Portugal
started
using
social
media
to
insult
foreign
leaders. Prime
Minister
Keir
Starmer
was
“no
Winston
Churchill,”
“spineless,”
“cowardly,”
and
“a
loser
who
has
no
future.” Sadiq
Khan was
a
“horrible,
vicious,
disgusting
mayor”
of
London. Suppose
the
Portuguese
president posted on
social
media
private
notes
that
Portugal
had
received
from
Emanuel
Macron
and
NATO
Secretary
Mark
Rutte,
publicly
embarrassing
the
notes’
authors.
Would
the
U.K.,
France,
and
NATO
later
want
to
help
Portugal
if
it
had
a
moment
of
need?
Suppose
Portugal
started
a
war
in
Iran
without
consulting
its
allies
and
later,
after
the
Strait
of
Hormuz
was
closed
and
the
worldwide
price
of
oil
was
skyrocketing,
asked
other
countries
to
step
in
and
open
the
Strait.
Having
spent
the
previous
year
antagonizing
people
around
the
world,
do
you
suppose
Portugal
would
find
much
global
sympathy
or
support?
(Come
to
think
of
it,
suppose
the
president
of
Portugal
had
posted
on
social
media
that
Donald
Trump
was
a
convicted
felon
who
had
been
found
liable
for
sexual
assault
—
an
entirely
accurate
statement
—
and
later
asked
the
United
States
to
get
Portugal
out
of
a
jam. How
would
Donald
Trump
react?)
I
realize
of
course
that
the
United
States
is
rich
and
powerful,
and
the
American
economy
and
military
matter
more
to
the
world
than
the
Portuguese
ones. But,
on
a
personal
level,
do
people
react
differently
when
they’re
treated
poorly
by
the
leader
of
a
rich
and
powerful
country
than
when
they’re
treated
poorly
by
the
leader
of
a
less
rich
and
less
powerful
one?
Despite
all
that
Trump
has
done,
other
global
leaders
might
continue
to
treat
the
United
States
with
public
respect,
for
fear
of
the
consequences
if
they
do
otherwise.
But
you
can
bet
your
last
dollar
that
no
American
ally
now
feels
warmly
toward
the
United
States
or
is
inclined
to
do
the
U.S.
any
optional
favors.
America
has
gotten
away
with
having
a
clownish
buffoon
at
the
helm
because
America
is
the
most
powerful
country
on
earth.
But
the
guy
at
the
helm
is
still
a
clownish
buffoon,
and
everyone
else
in
the
world
knows
it.
Mark Herrmann spent
17
years
as
a
partner
at
a
leading
international
law
firm
and
later
oversaw
litigation,
compliance
and
employment
matters
at
a
large
international
company.
He
is
the
author
of The
Curmudgeon’s
Guide
to
Practicing
Law and Drug
and
Device
Product
Liability
Litigation
Strategy (affiliate
links).
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected].