721–730 of 1001 posts
I'm working on the thesis that everything politicians say about foreign policy in public is for the consumption of the home audience, which has served me pretty reliably up until now.
One thing that is certain that such reckless behavior by the US executive will increase geopolitical instability. Nuclear proliferation is very much in the cards. And you can be certain the event was viewed with horror in Asian capitals where the notion of 'face' is a matter of cultural sensitivity. I wouldn't be surprised if Japan decides to go nuclear post-haste.
Absolutely heartbreaking. How many of the people arguing have seen any footage of the atrocities committed by Russia. It is sobering to see women and children shelled in their homes and hospitals. 20 Days in Mariupol is free to watch on Youtube (Won the Academy Award for Best Documentary last year): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvAyykRvPBo
So at this point obviously the US pulls all support from Ukraine - weapons, intelligence, the works. Any negotiations US-Russia will be useless as the US won’t represent anyone with a stake in the war. They don’t have people, territory, anything at stake, they don’t get refugees and generally aren’t directly affected in any way. What are the chances that they just leave Ukraine, Europe and Russia alone from now on an…
Probably even worse than pulling weapons and intelligence would be if the US pulled the plug on sanctions.
So, watching the video as a brit with a number if Ukrainian friends and colleagues, my first reaction is that this is the Trump Whitehouse looking for a cheap win. However, I think their calculation here speaks to the difficulty of the current situation. Putting aside the morality, sovereign integrity, and such: the situation appears to be entering/in a stalemate. The Ukrainian forces have done well to proactively ta…
Vance set the stage in that session, and Trump ran onto the stage and tried to make sure he was in the spotlight the whole time.
I would like to know what the alternatives are. None that I can think of are palatable: 1. Support Ukraine enough so that Russia doesn't take too much more territory, but not enough for Russia to feel threatened and escalate the war. This was the Biden plan and it sounds like what Europe wants. I just don't see how this ends the war. Is this just buying time for someone to depose Putin? 2. Support Ukraine enough so i…
The whole liberal-democratic world should be all-in on Ukraine assistance.
Instead, Trump just made it clear that the optimal time for PRC v ROC round 2 is within the next 3 year 10 months.
That was a shameful display and a stain on our republic. Is it possible our nation is bankrupt (and we haven't been told) and these theatrics and all this talk about deals is in fact about settling debts? One thing that is certain that such reckless behavior by the US executive will increase geopolitical instability. Nuclear proliferation is very much in the cards. And you can be certain the event was viewed with hor…
The other good/bad is that the population is very, very, very against any nuclear weapon armament and even holding an army, even Shinzo Abe could only do an "reintrepertation of article 9" because he was aware of this. Public opinion might change with Trump + Taiwan/Korea incident though.