Why do Western politicians slavishly follow American policy, no matter how bad it is, eg Ukraine?

Answer: The Almighty Dollar. 

Michael Hudson explains:

As long as America has been using its non-governmental organizations, its charities, its overseas subsidies to promote politicians who are favorable to the United States, the politicians will follow US policies. The United States has talent scouts all over Europe and Asia that look for promising graduates in their 20s who are very opportunistic and yet have a seemingly wide political appeal. They nurture them and they give them financial support from the American foundations, and bring them to America for training and gradually groom them to be prime ministers or politicians or military leaders or political administrators who are pro-American.

They’ve been doing this for the last 75 years since World War II ended. You have a managerial class in Europe and apparently much of Asia that has already been protected by the United States that has their wealth tied to support from the United States and property in the United States or in the US economy. So the political leadership of Europe is very different from the popular perceptions of what Europe needs. Europe and much of Asia is being run according to what benefits the United States, not what benefits their own domestic populations. And of course, that’s what gets America so upset about Russia and China: They’re actually trying to run their economies to support their own living standards, their own population and their own military power instead of subordinating their interests to US interests.

Why do Western politicians slavishly follow American policy, no matter how bad it is, eg Ukraine?

Answer: The Almighty Dollar. 

Michael Hudson explains:

As long as America has been using its non-governmental organizations, its charities, its overseas subsidies to promote politicians who are favorable to the United States, the politicians will follow US policies. The United States has talent scouts all over Europe and Asia that look for promising graduates in their 20s who are very opportunistic and yet have a seemingly wide political appeal. They nurture them and they give them financial support from the American foundations, and bring them to America for training and gradually groom them to be prime ministers or politicians or military leaders or political administrators who are pro-American.

They’ve been doing this for the last 75 years since World War II ended. You have a managerial class in Europe and apparently much of Asia that has already been protected by the United States that has their wealth tied to support from the United States and property in the United States or in the US economy. So the political leadership of Europe is very different from the popular perceptions of what Europe needs. Europe and much of Asia is being run according to what benefits the United States, not what benefits their own domestic populations. And of course, that’s what gets America so upset about Russia and China: They’re actually trying to run their economies to support their own living standards, their own population and their own military power instead of subordinating their interests to US interests.