I think that the trump administration if a bully. And if all those co-operative organizations are gone trump will bully them one at a time. There is strength in numbers. The U.N, The E. U, the OAS, and so on.
Mutual defense pacts. More so than ever against Russia and, sadly the U.S. under the trump administration.
Hang tough there guys!
Also, trump and Pompeo are not the brightest lights in the on the porch. Which makes them more dangerous..
2
Global problems are inherently multilateral because they affect all countries and demand that all countries work together to address them. Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions posed a nearby threat to the EU so it worked very hard within the framework of the Security Council with the U.S. and other permanent members to negotiate the JCPOA to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The Security Council is the UN institution with the responsibility to address global security concerns such as nuclear proliferation. This is not a bilateral issue between the U.S. and Iran. Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA heavily damages the Security Council and its capacity to address future problems. This unilateral action significantly increases prospects for destabilization of Iran which could pose an existential threat to the EU in view of the disruption caused by the refugees seeking sanctuary from civil war in Syria. Trump's total disregard for the EU interests in this matter destroy the possibility of multilateral effort, a partnership with the EU and regional powers to address other concerns regarding Iran, which are given as reasons for withdrawal from JCPOA.
Pompeo's claim that Trump is building a new liberal order based on sovereign states looks to a future without international institutions other than those that serve U.S. interests at the moment. That is a nightmare that Marshall sought to prevent. Mr. Pompeo's fairy tale is not convincing.
4
The EU and UN are wholly and completely organizations with different goals, and speaking about them in one breath doesn't seem to make much sense.
That said, the UN, while conceptually a great idea, has become a forum that gives legitimacy to leaders far more despotic than Mr. Trump or anyone from his administration. The UN has also done very little to prevent genocide and horrific war crimes in regions from the Balkans to sub-Saharan Africa, all the while facilitating sexual exploitation of those it is supposed to be protecting. While I expect a barrage of snarky and condescending comments here about Pompeo and Trump, on this issue Pompeo's criticism of the UN is entirely valid.
2
@Middleman MD: The Trump administration is completely worthless at addressing the global overpopulation that will swamp all efforts to limit climate change and habitat destruction.
2
Pompeo is a "temp" of the worst kind: the kind that sees no personal benefit to the longevity of secular institutions.
Beware men who can only see the benefits of a patriarchal religion and yet belong to a political party where their goal is to rid this nation of the Department of Education and 58% of those party believe that "higher education is harmful to this country".
Pompeo will be gone in the blink of an eye, along with all of the rest who have been working frantically to dismantle every law and regulation that it has taken us 250 years to lay down.
Listen to any of them and you will be drinking fracked water and breathing coal tar.
Politicians are always "temps" - but few are as ignorant as the batch in there now.
11
@rosa: I don't consider anyone who believes in a personal God an adult or a realist. The laws of physics are mindless, which is why they can be expressed mathematically.
2
So, is it safe to say that the Trump Doctrine is: dismantle everything and replace everything with...a slogan?
7
@MW: The contents of Trump's gut. That's where Trump's thought processes occur, moment to moment.
1
As a visionary like President Trump, I see things many steps into the future. And what I see for the United Nations building in New York is a casino, managed by the Trumps, of course. Baccarat tables where diplomats used to dicker for days on meaningless topics like “peace” and “war.” Slot machines lining hallways where functionaries negotiated to end conflicts without bloodshed or dollars, what’s the point of that? Offices where cashiers can count money where people used to raise money to feed people dying of starvation or thirst. The possibilities are endless, the days of unity and caring are over, it’s the era of the TRUMP.
7
@Anon: Trump is an extreme present hedonist with a time horizon no wider than his own navel.
4
The era of every nation is for itself is now upon the world. And it starts with the US. It will not end well. Remember history.
8
@Paul: The plutocratic crony cabal now dictating over the US established itself by playing all the US states against each other.
2
What an unbelievably arrogant and out-of-place statement:
Should one suggest to him that maybe the US (United States, i.e. organization of states) should be dissolved because of the current political bipartisanship and gridlock (i.e. signs of dysfunction)?
Yes, the EU has problems to solve and conflicts, but it is a similar undertaking as if the US would want to merge with South American states,- already the interaction with Puerto Rico is problematic enough. Think about it: 28 states with different cultural and political identities, languages and tradition trying to merge together into a federate organisation of states, this obviously takes solving problems along the road.
Pompeo's focus should rather be on working the problems at hand - of which there are enough - using the allies wherever they can help.
9
@LL: Brexit is all the more profoundly stupid because English is becoming the common language of Europe.
2
Mike Pompeo is a total disaster for the international community. This is the problem when Trump puts loyalty ahead of experience and competence as recruitment criteria. His administration is manned by either loyalists or plutocrats. He doesn't care about overseeing a respectable government. He just wants to be remembered as having the wealthiest cabinet in US history.
Without fossil fuel barons like Charles and David Koch, the former Tea Party congressman from Wichita, Kansas, wouldn’t have come so far in his career. Trump liked Pompeo’s right-wing radical world views and appointed the hardliner to direct the CIA and later to lead the State Department.
Denying climate change, reneging on multilateral agreements and seeing global institutions as a threat to America, this is how the US chief diplomat portrays the Trump adminstration, with bullyism as its foreign policy.
11
Next, Pompeo will question the good and need for the United States.
4
The UN is necessary, but certainly it may need some adjustment to fit the current times and situations - to replace it would not be possible; to destroy it would be anathema to Global Peace. Trump does NOT represent the USA or its people! djm
3
It wasn't like these organizations always existed. Okay then, look back at the world BEFORE these institutions were established and compare. What you would find is two world wars, raging fascist nationalism or bordering on such, and no way to even air or address international disputes to diffuse military conflicts. Mr. Pomeo embarrassingly reveals his provincial hayseed mentality, which is particularly oxymoronic coming from a Sec.of State of the United States, which, by the way is a permanent member of the Security Council of the U.N. But then again, he is being totally consistent with the dangerous and corrosive disconnect between many of his Republican colleagues who are in government to weaken or disable it.
5
Do the high ranking people in this administration ever had a History lesson? What are they trying to accomplish by just tearing down the institutions but never offering solutions? And, what right has the US to interfere in the EU? I think Pompeo, Trump and the like just like to run their mouths off not having a clue of what they are talking about.
9
It's as if they never cracked a single history book. I'm shocked but not surprised at how quickly people have forgotten the lessons of WWI and WWII. This is what happens when you elect an inexperienced, ignorant self-dealer as president.
We're going to need a real "apology tour" to the world once this menace has been taken off the stage.
8
Pompeo is perfect an example of how even the most honorable, well educated and experienced leaders can be corrupted. Sadly, this man made the choice to board the Trump train which is now careening off the rails. RIP Mike Pompeo.
3
It is quite unfortunate that Americans were stimulated to vote for Trump by hatred and anger manipulation whereupon he assembled a government of like minded anti-social people who even view their fellow Americans as enemies. I could have lived with a nationalist government that puts America first as a policy, but for them to make enemies of other nations only serves to make new enemies endangering America. The United Nations and the European Union are noble institutions where conflict and disagreement is met by cooperative resolutions that seek to avoid man's inclination to violent wars. We should be very concerned that our Secretary of State, Pompeo, is every bit like Trump; adversarial and a trouble maker seeking headlines.
5
Many leaders past and present, much smarter than Pompeo and Trump, see the value in these international organizations. While not perfect in many ways, they serve a useful overriding purpose. As Winston Churchill said, talk, talk, talk is better than war, war, war.
10
I question the value of Mike Pompeo.
I know, it's already been said but I want to add my voice to others' voices.
11
Come on, president Trump wants to make us Europeans poor and subsidiary. Everybody knows it. His administration says it openly, so it’s ridiculous when others try to suger-coat it. The Trump administration is also publicly humiliating us. I’m actually amazed the European response is so diplomatic. If someone keeps hitting you in the face, the reason is they want to hurt you. The US and other powers have always been against the UN, because the UN has given small countries some say, but now you have gone full evil. The US regime is an existential threat to my lower middle class family, and my child’s ability to study, work and travel in the future. It should be treated as such.
7
So Sheldon Adelson's millions has obviously paid off. The embassy was moved, funding to the Palestinians was cut off, and now we're trying to dismantle the U.N.
12
The next president will spend her first year in office on a world wide apology tour.
10
With Donald Trump and his band of ignoramouses in power, I imagine international groups like the U.N. and E.U. are questioning the value of the United States.
13
@Radicalnormal: The US has demonstrated how utterly void of character judgement it is. There is nobody in Trump's entourage who isn't sleazy. The pretense that this funny farm is "under God" is the most juvenile farce in the world.
7
I question the value of Mike Pompeo. Ever notice how closely the rise of the Tea Party corresponded with the rise of Putin.
9
As much as I despise the Tea Party, and Putin, the Tea Party did not arise until 2010
Putin's rise predated it by about a decade.
2
How can he question the validity of any collective when he himself resides in a collective of states, territories, possessions and a federal district? E pluribus unum, Mike!
9
The sooner we get this administration out of power and into the trash heap the better. We have had relative peace in this world since the United Nations was formed and I for one plan to do my very best to keep it that way. We need more people like Ted Turner around with the same instincts about what it takes to make to world go round.
It definitely is not this Trump Organization. They have no idea.
8
The article and its indictment of Trump underscores the failure of our system to filter out unfit candidates for public office before they get onto a ballot.
No HR department in any corporation would hire a CEO w/no experience, bad temperment, and whose resume includes a series of business failures & marriages.
Yet, here we are w/no means of removing Trump from power other than praying we last till 2020 or Mueller succeeds.
Our failure to reject rotten apples is only exceeded by our inability to make course corrections in a timely manner.
7
@Henry J: The whole US election process hasn't got a rational leg to stand on.
1
Still bitter the UN would not approve the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
It is ironic that if we follow Pompeo's line of thinking, the US would not need a Secretary of State.
6
I had hoped Pompeo was one of the adults in the room.
2
As an European I find this very offensive. One could argue that America is a federal state and should be broken up. But that would be a silly thing to argue and wish for. Americans reading this column must realise that friends to speak to friends in this manner. Enemies do. The audacity and the rudeness is extraordinary. But this is what we have come to expect of America and Trump. The question to you - are you a friend or a foe ?
And to the EU secretariat : Why do we invite these people to speak in Brussels ? Why ?
11
Isn’t it the US federal government that ought to be dismantled? It is certainly failing its own people...
6
This is truly frightening how completely detached from reality these comments are. This is completely opposite of the actual situation in the world where all of those organizations make a net positive contribution to world peace, order, and stability (of course they all have some faults).
4
Neither Chaos nor Anarchy are suitable governing philosophies. The sooner the new house puts a leash on this administration the better off we will be. Have a hearing ASAP , make Pompeo explain in small words why he said this.
3
“It’s an antidemocratic institution that subverts the popular will of its sovereign states with the dictates of a technocratic elite that inevitably favor the banks and corporations of Northern Europe.”
This may have escaped your notice, but if you substitute a few words here and there, you’ve pretty accurately described the White House and US Congress under Republican control.
7
Whether in fact Trump and his henchmen are simply following a script drawn up for them by Vladimir Putin to undermine post-war liberal democratic institutions and alliances, the end result of all the efforts appears the same nonetheless.
3
The EU is not serving its citizens?
How about, the executive branch of the U.S. Government is absolutely failing its citizens?
And I cannot wait to vote that person out of office....it's Mueller Time.
8
Russia and the Trump administration want to break apart the European Union into separate competing countries. It's called divide and conquer. The E.U. is too civil for the likes of these tough guys, and also too powerful (if they can stand up to the onslaught of Bannon and now Pompeo.) By civil I mean they care about the people before the profiteers with laws upholding the social safety net and regulating commerce.
If these desperadoes can break the E.U. and undermine the United Nations, they will set civil society back to serfdom. They only want to make the world safe for the autocrats to do with it what they want, which is to maximize profits on the backs of the defeated people of the world.
And they have no qualms about starting a war to take over Iran's riches just like they did in Iraq. Iraq didn't work out as they planned, and Syria caused immigrants to flood Europe. We must band together with Europe to turn back this flood of pure evil before it takes over our world.
4
It seems the people in the Trump administration are quite sanguine to think it is all too natural we came here without catastrophic wars for these seventy years. So they regret compromising too much for nothing. They regret yielding to the international organizations the US has no control of. They are fatalists. Entrusting fatalists with a task of steering a country is like betting the country.
2
It is interesting that George Marshall is quoted from an official of the current administration. During the reign of the current president, Germans became "foes", the European Union that was founded to preserve peace in Europe was an organisation " only built to take unfair advantage of the United States". Maybe someone should tell the president und his schoolyard bullies that WW 2 ended 73 years ago and that Europeans don't ask, neither need permission to create their life in a pollitical system that worked successfully for decades. The United States are acting more and more like an occupying force, not as a friend nor partner. The ambassador sent to Germany told us what to do within days after his arrival. 73 percent of the Germans define the relationship with the United States es "bad". But we still are deeply thankful to President Bush who was the first one to support the german unification. We still remember having our best friend in the United States. And I still hope that some day it will be like that again. As of right now, however, I am with the 73 percent mentioned above.
19
As am I. The US needs to disappear. It is a societal pathogen. Europe and China should make a pact to boycott all US goods and work to replace the dollar with another currency . And Germany. evict the US military. The war is over. Ally with Russia.
1
Well put my European friend.
2
It some posting here know very little about the EU, about as much as Pompeo. As an EU and US citizen I feel much more protected as an individual by European Union directives, as they are called, than by US law. A few examples....holiday time away from work is an EU mandate, currently at 25 days a year for full time employees in companies larger than 30 employees; healthcare is mandated; data protection laws are the strongest in the world; our Court of Human Rights oversees 28 countries to ensure their laws do not impinge on civil liberties; environmental protection is becoming more and more centralised so as not to have a member state avoid its responsibilities to address climate change; free trade occurs smoothly across all national borders as well as freedom of movement; and most importantly, a continent that has had more wars and loss of life than any other has been at peace with member states since the precursor to the European Union. Peace and democracy are fragile but the EU has preserved both. Not perfectly as we can see in Hungry and Poland at present, but nonetheless it seeks to support democratic institutions across nations. This great experiment in supporting how 28 nations speaking 70 different languages can co-exist peacefully is working. There are of course problems and ongoing reform and rejuvenation is needed--and is occurring--but as an EU patriot attacks and fake news from Pompeo, Trump and Puntin need to be countered with measured and accurate responses.
31
Ironic that Pompeo is quoting George Marshall in an attack on the United Nations. Marshall was the U.S. delegate when he welcomed other nations to the U.N.'s New York headquarters in September, 1947. From his speech:
"The large Powers bear special responsibilities because of their strength and resources. While these responsibilities bring with them special advantages, the Great Powers must recognize that restraint is an essential companion of power and privilege. The United Nations will never endure if there is insistence on privilege to the point of frustration of the collective will."
If they're capable of learning anything, Marshall could teach both Pompeo and Trump a thing or two about restraint.
20
In an ideal world, Pompeo would be doing what he's truly suited for: cleaning up pig slop.
17
That is exactly what he is doing in his current position
1
Pompeo, Bolton, and Trump and their confederacy of entitled dunces are trampling the world in their big dirty boots, doing harm wherever they can.
Cowardly bullies, armchair critics, chickenhawks (President Bone Spurs), these are not good people
Quite the reverse.
27
Okay. I got it that Pompeo and Trump don't like these organizations. It is all of piece. The GOP doesn't like ObamaCare. The party doesn't like TPP. Now, Trump says he will pull out of Nafta. He seems to detest NATO too. Soon we will hear again that Medicare and Social Security are big bad wolves as well.
I, for one, am sick and tired of the constant complaining. Either put up solutions or shut up.
22
Perfectly said. The constant whining and complaining just to be critical is tiresome and boring. Perfect example is the Nafta replacement....which is really TPP and the best of NAFTA.
In June 2013, Congressman Pompeo stated from the House floor: "Silence has made these Islamic leaders across America potentially complicit in these acts (Boston Marathon bombing)."
Inflammatory stereotyping AND an outrageous lie.
Even an Islamophobe can't ignore Trump's deference to Putin, so the Secretary of State is using the only tool available: Announce a timeline to end a NUCLEAR treaty.
Pragmatic politicians MIGHT REJECT THE CLAIM that a Trump arms race would achieve Russian / Chinese corrections --- ESPECIALLY when factoring-in the loss of the House and Trump's low approval rating.
But, Pompeo is a pragmatic REPUBLICAN politician, so he is just proceeding per Phase 2: Justify a response requiring nuclear weapons development.
Phase 1 was the 1 March 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) that gave more consideration to "...the intention to seek a new low-yield nuclear capability, the rejection of future arms control agreements, and the plan to increase U.S. nuclear weapons production capability."
https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2018-03/features/question-dollars-sense-assessing-2018-nuclear-posture-review
Why question this world-wide gambit toward more nuclear weapons? It's a plane; it's a China deal; it's Tariff Man!
2
Trump and his advisors are going rogue! This is something that should shake the core of the Republican Party.
14
I question the value of Mike Pompeo.
16
Re the UN: When the security council includes Russia and Venezuela, one has to wonder about the effectiveness of the entire organization.
6
To paraphrase Churchill: it's not a good system, but it's the only one we have. I, for one, do not want to go back to a pre-war world.
5
Why, at a time when we need to rebuild our own infrastructure (both physical and democratic) are Pompeo and Trump pushing for dismantling the institutions that have helped resurrect and rebuild Europe out of the ashes of two world wars? Who ultimately benefits? Hmm, could it be ... ???
14
I look back wistfully to the days of Rex Tillerson.
16
Pompeo and Trump: "We do not value any organization that we are not completely in control over."
So far this is a bigger threat to Nato then to the EU.
10
Pompeo again demonstrates a step down from character. Secretary of State? He and Kelly will eventually both write books about how they helped contain Trumps insanity and corruption.
3
Mr. Pompeo is spot on, unfortunately. But the real problems started with the admission of China into another international organization, the WTO, following the delinking of human rights with trade by President Clinton. America and Europe lost middle class jobs while China reaped the benefits.
6
Great! A xenophobe as Secretary of State.
12
One cannot read this information withoout vomiting. Actions based on this logic will destroy us as a country.
Glub-glub-glub… .
10
Did Pompeo not get the emergency tweet about the mission being aborted, and it's everyone save themselves?
5
This guy is hilariously funny because he is apparently serious. WOW both the UN and NATO and Pompeo is Secretary of State. Wonder how loud did James Baker laugh!
8
For some reason, Pompeo is a fellow Trump/Putin traveler. I wonder why he seems so anti-democratic and anti-West.
11
This would give the green light to autocrats like Trump to rule as dictators disposing of journalists and dissidents as they see fit. Human rights will no longer be considered important and if a powerful country wished to annex a neighboring small country. Pompeo drank the koolaid of our school yard bully president,
10
Pompeo questions the value of the UN?
I question the value of Pompeo.
Virtually everyone inthis administration will be punchlines to the jokes about completely unmemorable people within minutes of the inauguration in January of 2021
14
Pompeo is right. Brexit should be a wake-up call. The EU is in dire need of reform. It's an anti-democratic institution that subverts the popular will of its sovereign states with the dictates of a technocratic elite that inevitably favor the banks and corporations of northern Europe. The European Parliament is essentially powerless, like the House of Lords. The technocrats have spitefully hurt the economies of southern and eastern Europe with austerity measures because they couldn't pay back bad loans from Germany. The elites ordered the the banks bailed out and the people to suffer. The British working-class supported Brexit because they were forced to compete with migrants from these countries, a situation that lowered wages and increased the cost of living. These same obstinate technocrats who punished Greece, Spain and Italy and who caused Britain to bolt from the union, are still in charge, and they pout when Pompeo hurts their feelings, pointing out the obvious. When will they wake up and reform?
3
So much of this post is inaccurate and fake news. The EU has an elected parliament which represents a very diverse 28 countries and the House of Lords is a body that allows checks and balances to occur with the House of Commons and because it is not elected is not beholden to specific political parties. It rarely stops legislation but often helps to improve it (e.g. same sex marriage, environmental protection laws, health and social care reform). In writing about Greece, as you allude to, what seems missing in this analysis is how corrupt the Greek tax system has been for decades. Government after government ignored money being passed under the table across the whole of society from plumbers to surgeons. Tax collection was far less than is needed to effectively run a country. The age of retirement in Greece with excellent benefits was 55; difficult to afford when the retirement age across the continent ranges from 60 to 67. Yes, it has been very difficult in Greece since the EU bailout but being in the EU has benefitted Greece in multiple ways. According to Greek colleagues I know, it is in better shape in the long run as a result of the EU.
9
“President Trump knows that when America leads, peace and prosperity follow,” he added.
I laughed and laughed and laughed. Absolutely true, back we had morals and values and at least pretended to honor truth. We ain't there no more and if we keep attacking our allies we never will be again. This world doesn't need America nearly as much as we need to be a part of the rest of the world.
22
Why not?
Putin pulls the strings and trump causes the chaos.
Who needs a world based on peace, prosperity and basic human rights?
7
Putin wants the end of the INF because simply breaking the rules doesn't allow him to wave his weapons at the europeans. Threats by him would have to be met with sanctions from the US and others, even worse than it is now.
Trump an Pompeo fear the EU because if they hold together they present a serious power on the same level or stronger than the US. China is way weaker than that.
1
“How does a nationalist lead on the international stage?” He doesn’t, of course. He makes himself irrelevant to the multilateral conditions of global peace and prosperity.
He stays out of the way of “a deeply skeptical audience” that is working around him, until he is so contained by brighter good sense that he resorts to permanently playing golf while adults maintain and advance the legacy of the Greatest Generation that G.H.W. Bush exemplified in seeking a “New World Order” backed by a domestic “thousand points of light” that recognizes the “Enlightenment Now” is necessary to prevent our grandchildren from having to recover from Hothouse Earth.
But a nationalist is essentially narcissistic: The children want what he wants. The neighborhood lives for attending to his rants.
I’m so tired of my own polemics against the incompetent real estate salesman who has sold a bill of goods to a Republican Party that poisoned itself pervasively.
6
Presumably, Pompeo also "questions the value of international groups" like the World Court and international agreements like the Geneva Conventions too? Just like his master!
2
Pompeo is long on bluster and short on solutions. He doesn't seem to have even the most basic understanding of his duties or America's role in the world. It seems that the goal of every member of this administration is to destroy our reputation and relations with those who have believed in us. It's frightening and infuriating. Not to mention embarrassing.
6
I'm struck by some of Pompeo's Orwellian turns of phrase, like talking about American leadership at the very time when the US is failing to support international order, whether it's on trade or climate. He brings to mind the classic image of fire-fighter-turned-arsonist.
13
I guess the equivalent to what Mr.Pompeo did would be to have a foreigner like me go to US and harangue the people to eliminate the federal government, trying to convince people that they would be better off as individual states.
The US might is the result of its union. The same thing is true for the international community.
15
Seems like Pompeo is listening to Bannon via Trump. Relationship would be damaged without the U.N..
193 States in membership. Peace keeping objectives and unarmed observers are important aspects of the U.N. . Things can be reshaped however don’t underestimate the important value of the extraterritorial location in Manhattan where the U.N. operates. The United Nations Security Council and 5 other aspects are valuable as part of the overall body. I hope people don’t react believing Pompey’s thoughts as they emanate from Bannon via Trump most likely in my opinion.
3
I question the value of a US Secretary of State who seems unclear about his purpose. John Kerry tried hard to broker peace, health, and prosperity for people around the world. Trump's appointees only look to demean, damage, and destroy.
12
Pompeo's brand of underinformed, tinhorn evangelism makes a strong case for the existence and vitality of all manner of multilateral bodies. Keep up the good work, Mike!
1
So short sited. The 'status quo' is peace. Boring, not interesting, no fun. Outside of trade deals and business transactions, there is no value or point to foreign relations as far as Trump and Pompeo are concerned.
It really is a fragile peace in Europe and other places, as evidenced by the 'former' Yugoslavia. For all their shortcomings, the EU, UN and other organizations, and our leadership role in them, are the only things that hold this jalopy together.
5
As an independent who is both an American and a EU national, and who also worked at the UN, I also question the importance of the EU and the UN. Pompeo was right in his speech and the voice in the crowd was in denial.
The EU serves the European multinationals offering them expanding grounds and markets and killing the local industries, and the EU bureaucrats who are pressing independent Christian states to open to migration from third world and Muslim countries in total and feckless OPPOSITION of the will of the people in the EU, and often in stark opposition to the very constitutions of these countries, which most are closed to both migration and immigration.
The UN is ever worse, a maze of useless initiatives that overlap and arrogant overpaid do nothing bureaucrats, with senior management behaving in the field like feudal lords that respond to no one and with an inflated view of their own dismal personas, and a non entity with no personality or achievements serving as secretary general, the laughing stock of every summit he attends.
3
@alexgri Both UN and the EU employ an army of bureaucrats who are trying hard to inflate their relevance cooking up endless various costly initiatives that sound good on paper. There are no breaks in this process, save for the lone voice of various US administrations, from time to time.
2
International organizations are created to fulfill a role or function. When that role is no longer needed is the organization disbanded, or does it continue on like the Mary Celeste?
Really, everyone fears change. The IMF? World bank? Development banks in general? Do they really need to exist? What about 98% of the UN's functions? Is the UN basically a holding tank for political patronage, or does it really provide something that other organizations cannot?
These are questions that should have been asked after the Cold War ended.
4
This is typically American. I mean...USAn ..I don't know how we should say.
Money, money, money : that's the culture.
All institutions, all associations that have been historically created to limit political abuses, are now wished to be banned.Extinct.
Let's make Abuse Great Again !
5
No question with Mr. Pompeo's education background, West Point plus Harvard Law School and Director of CIA, is a well-qualified foreign affairs expert. If his assessment is correct, that means during the years of Truman to Obama, other secretaries were so stupid and didn't give good advice to our presidents and the members of our Congress. Pompeo should be a presidential candidate in the future. We really need a smart and honest president in our country. This country has been mislead for so long since Truman time. No wonder Russia is meddling our elections and China is becoming a powerful country stealing our high tech secrets. Time to do something immediately. This is indeed a wake-up call for us.
3
Interesting, I question Mike Pompeo's value. He probably won't be around much longer.
10
Having worked for the UN .. I have to agree. It was out of control when I worked there in the 80's -- everybody knew it. This idea is nothing new. A UN job is the political plum in many countries -- filling the halls with unqualified flunkies trying to maintain the position at home. Bloated and ineffective ... the money it spends is unbelievable .. a waste. Most of it provided by the USA ..
Obama should have moved on it -- would have been labeled a Genius.
All of these originations have a worthwhile reason for being -- they just get too big and bloated. Went to Department of State after the UN -- the number growth crazy there as well.
4
As a citizen of Spain and the USA, dual citizenship, residing in this country since 1960, I am interested in the well being of both countries. Niether Trump nor Pompeo know what they are talking about. The organization of European countries is none of your business, Mr Secretary! The Europeans do not interfere in the US federal system nor in the debate about states rights, Mr Pompeo. The EU is guarantor of democracy in Europe, since it prevents destructive nationalism and fascist tendencies from the extremists of right and left. It has helped to maintain democracy in Spain for 40 years, after 40 years of dictatorship. Mr Mueller, please rush your report, before Trump and his gang destroy more democratic institutions in the US and the world.
31
Brilliant! As a UK and US citizen I fully concur. The EU has kept nationalism and fascism out of government as much as it can.
2
Pompeo sees himself as Secretary of State and still head of the CIA. Here's hoping today's meeting between select Senate members and Ms Haspel settled the difference. He makes Rex Tillerson look pretty good right now.
8
What a ghastly display of Ugly Americanism, hubris, and, most of all, ignorance.
By what right does Mr. Pompeo go to Belgium — a country that was obliterated in the First World War and occupied in the Second — and announce international agreements not based on militarism are bad?
Where does he get the nerve to mansplain to Europeans that, despite their support and sacrifices their Union, and regardless of its creation of a standard of living higher than that of the United States, it is failure, and that they don’t know their own interests?
What planet was he on when he condemned the United Nations? In the 73 years before the UN, two catastrophic world wars annihilated more than 100 million people. In the 73 years after its creation, there have been no world wars, while, smallpox, the greatest killer in human history has been wiped out. Rates of famine, illiteracy, and suicide have dropped to all-time low. A higher percentage of people have risen to the middle class than ever before.
I’m told Mr. Pompeo was graduated in his class at West Point. They must have stopped teaching grace, respect, and history.
26
Not really a fan of Ronald Reagan but his metaphor for America was "a shining city upon a hill". What would Trump's metaphor be? What comes to mind for me is a dark fortress, with drawbridge up, guns pointing outward, and palace intrigue going on inside.
14
"Pompeo questions the value of international groups like the U.N.". What a coincidence, since Trump became President, many international groups question the value of the U.S.
15
The Iran nuclear agreement was a disaster - you can’t negotiate with a country that openly supports terror and the destruction of Israel.
The EU needs their oil - we don’t.
1
Whoa. Pompeo sounds like he is a nationalist according to the Steve Bannon model.
8
Failing to understand that nationalists cannot lead on the internal stage and using the premise that it is actually possible for a major policy speech indicates Pompeo is in no way qualified for his job. In the Trump cabinet, that puts him in good company.
10
I question the value of Mike Pompeo as our head diplomat. Sometimes, working behind doors has more value than criticism at the front door.
4
Secretary Pompeo and this Nationalist bent goes completely against the reality of our Global community. America will never again have the independent manufacturing infrastructure that it had for over 100 years. It’s obvious to anyone who has studied Economics and World history. The world community is connected with free information flow that is only getting faster and everyone knows, what everyone is doing, everywhere! At the very least the UN and EU provides a platform where people from around the world can meet face to face to discuss mutually beneficial issues. It just doesn’t make sense to criticize the UN unless there is a better way to get the world together for common understanding. Trump and his henchmen like Pompeo offer absolutely nothing constructive towards mutual cooperation between people around the Globe.
4
So Pompeo thinks that the only valuable multilateral institutions are those that focus on money transfers and war. That’s a pretty bleak vision of the world. I suppose he wants to go back to a period when countries beat up on each other, when the strong could brutalize the weak, when there were no standards for acceptable international behavior. Lost in all this is any concern for threats that are multilateral and systemic, like climate change or labor standards that must be followed by multinational corporations. I never thought that I would see someone whose views followed the John Birch Society established in the White House.
10
"There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today.
We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business."
---Arthur Jensen in "Network"
6
Pompeo doesn't seem to realize how we have a sweetheart deal in the U.N. which is being one of five countries on the Permanent Security Council. If we had gotten that, the 1920 Senate would have approved our joining the League of Nations, and probably prevented WWII.
What this means that we can stop any coalition that attempts to get the U.N behind warring on us, but we can make war on any country, IE Panama, Granada and Iraq. If there was a groundswell to punish us, either militarily or by sanctions, we have that veto.
We have used our veto to protect Israel numerous times. Only time the U.N. was marshalled for war was in Korea, when the USSR had boycotted the UN, like Pompeo and Trump are now toying with doing. If we did leave, If the entire world turned against us they could organize under the UN to apply pressure on us.
I doubt that either Pompeo or Trump understands the complex history of the how the league of nations was transformed into the U.N. Over the decades, while imperfect it has international law some reality.
The world could survive periodic wars over the eons, as only armies were decimated. Now civilization itself can be destroyed in that first exchange of thermonuclear missiles.
I'm now reading George F. Kennan, who attempted to prevent the stockpiling of nuclear weapons after WWII. He hung around arguing for reason until his death in 2006 at age 101. Oh do we need such as he right now!
82
@Call Me Al If you read the U.N. constitution you might not say that . The way it is drawn up we will lose a lot of our Constitutional rights. We would be governed a a Foreign body that hate our values, our culture and any form of government run by the people. U.N and E.U are socialist run Groups,not good.
@Call Me Al Ironically, Kennan played a big part in getting us into the Cold War in the first place, though he came to regret it. He also famously stated (in a State Dept. position paper) that we have 5% of the world's population and consume 50% of its resources, and argued that we need to keep it that way at all costs.
Mike Pompeo is many things, but he is not a diplomat. Like his boss he is a bully. Swift did not act responsibly, it succumbed to blackmail from the Trump administration. The Trump administration hates most international organizations and treaties because they seek to hold him accountable for his words and actions. Many of the men currently in power represent the worst of their generation and that definitely includes Trump and his mouthpieces.
11
Hm. Since populism seems to be the theme of this Administration, perhaps it's time for the West Coast states to exit from the drain of the Red States of the U.S.
Good idea, Trump/Pompeo.
7
Every institution should question its mission and effectiveness on a routine basis, otherwise they will not be able to move forward. Outside actors or events may spur productive reflection.
I question the value of much that the UN does, but see it as a more functional organization than the League of Nations. I wonder why anyone would prefer the EU to the old EEC, but if it works for Europeans who am I to tell them they're wrong? Could the African Union and the OAS do more? Sure. Do all the members want that? Maybe.
Does Mike Pompeo need to be lecturing the EU on what a bad deal it is for their own members? NO. Just like most of us don't lecture the neighbors on how they spend their money or raise their kids.
3
When Trump just complained about a crazy high military budget Pompeo repeats that the other nations should spend more Why this if the US spends less we are all doing the right thing Pompeo should follow the latest tweets
2
While I continue to donate to UNICEF maybe Pompeo can explain to Trump how a real trade deal, not bluster, is how to get the stock markets back up
3
It's so laughable to read people commenting about the US' allies. We don't have any. We do have a LOT of DEPENDENTS: Europe, Saudi Arabia, Israel, S. Korea, Japan and others. Especially Europe. Since WWI it's a been a one way flow of lives and money from the US to Europe. All Trumps is saying is the gravy train needs to stop. Let Europe pay for its own defense. And the other "allies" need to do the same. The Democrats in the US would rather attack Trump than thank him for standing up for the US.
1
@Reader In Wash, DC
That's why we Europeans are trying to make the EU a more perfect Union, united and strong , so we can provide for our own defense. A Union more like a federal system, with an EU budget. Germany, France and Spain, are cooperating to build a eurofighter, a step of creating an integrated defense system, like the US. Do not interfere!
5
This man is a West Point engineer by training. Then an engineer in business in his home state of Texas. Then elected to Congress from Kansas in the tea party wave of 2010. Then suddenly made CIA chief by Trump for a mere 15 months until promoted to the 3rd most powerful position in USG, that of SecState... Is this not another example of rank amateurism? Sorry, my friends, but the more I read and reflect with the view of age, the more I realize that we are a Dangerous Country. Strange, contradictory, and dangerous - even as we are compassionate and principled. But dangerous indeed.
21
What planet are we living on since Trump, Inc. took over????? Putin, Inc. must be in loving every minute of our nightmare. Who will be held accountable?
8
The UN is a useless organization which perpetuates generational refugee status for Palestinians and relentlessly criticize one nation among nations - Israel.
A United Nations that does nothing to help a million Muslims being tortured by the Chinese government - is worthless.
A United Nations that puts some of the worst human rights abusers onto a human rights committee - is worthless.
Dear UN members,
Pack up and go home.
2
I question the value of Mike Pompeo. Since WWII, these international organization have been invaluable in keeping the peace and greasing the gears of cooperation. International relations is the job of people who believe in international relations, not likes of Mr. Pompeo and his boss.
9
Turning our backs on international cooperation and alliances is absolutely the WRONG thing to do, which is why Trump is pulling out of multilateral cooperation and agreements.
In the 12/2018 issue of the "National Geographic," the CEO has an editorial about the need to actively work to put our increasingly challenged planet in balance. Trump does not put things in balance; he intentionally puts them in a state of disequilibrium, imbalance, and chaos.
Jared Diamond contributed an article, "The Global Peril of Inequality" about what is happening as poorer nations are more aware--thanks to global communications, media, and digital technology--of the problem of inequality, where rich nations seemingly "have/take it all" but leave nothing for most of the rest of the world.
Resources are increasingly strained by increased population, climate change, pollution, scarcity, competition and violence, which is already fomenting anger and desperation.
It is really a crisis of relative deprivation and rising expectations, which is likely to fuel greater terrorism, immigrant and refugee migrations, diseases, violence. It won't be long before there really isn't going to be sufficient resources to go around.
Diamond's solution :
"...what is lacking is political will....While world problems are getting worse, potentials for solutions are getting better. Multinational or world agreements have already succeeded in solving some big problems.
Our survival depends on policy & cooperation
5
Mr. Pompeo, the UN mission is to keep guys like you from destroying the planet and give your boss a venue to tell the world how great he is.
5
Pompeo looks like nothing more than a koch puppet.
There is nothing above board about this so called administration.
5
Pompeo and Trump need to revisit pre WWI and WWII history. The post war order has largely been successful in maintaining peace and relative tranquility. Returning to the days of unbridled nationalism, which brought Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin to power should never be forgotten. Leaders like Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and, yes, even Nixon comprehended those days well.
It’s understandable that Trump, who has probably never read a history book in his life, would reach the moronic — to use a Tillerson adjective— conclusion that each nation should simply fend for itself. But Pompeo should know better, at least by virtue of his West Point and Harvard Law pedigree.
11
Outside his current appointment, who is Mike Pompeo?
1
The Trump administration needs to keep its little paws away from the E.U. Why is Secretary Pompeo laying into the E.U.? We all know the bloc is a safeguard against Russian overreach in the Eastern Hemisphere. Who is this administration acting on behalf of? @putin
6
Pompeo is not qualified to run a hot dog stand.
7
Who is Mr Pompeo? what a joke to tell the European Union or UN they should rather disappear? what if the EU would ask the United States to split like they once did during the civil war? The globe is facing challenges not one single country can fix this is completely nonsense.
5
Ridiculous. The U.N. and good relations with our allies can be the right forum for dealing with many things either directly via U.N. contact or diplomacy initiated from there. “Being a part of” is important even for enemies. We need that forum for peace and we will need the whole world for the efforts to save our planet which is in “cascading” decline with global warming and on the way to no hope. We need to unite and try to save the oceans which are a disaster and irreversible.
United is a key beyond words.
2
Yes we need the U.N. and we also need to realign with our allies who have been pushed aside by Trump. He weakens them with his negative comment, actions and awful self proclaimed “nationalism” which along with Russia has contributed to unrest and undermined elections in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. You can be sure that Bannon is in his ear saying “seize the time seize the world”.
2
The main problem Trump’s team has with the EU is it’s “system of popular elections”. Here in the USA you can lose the popular vote and still gain power.
10
We are listening to the death rattle of the one-time ‘leader of the Free World,’ the once-United States of America.
Our own system is broken and anachronistic. Our ‘representative’ government enables an economically depressed and backward white rural minority in the inaptly named ‘heartland’ to dictate to the majority living in our thriving metropolitan areas, along the perimeter of the U.S. mainland. Our Second Amendment is now the death of us, to the tune of over 30,000 dead and tens of thousands gravely injured from gunfire every year. We lost over 70,000 last year to drug overdoses. Climate change already has cost countless billions in property damage and the loss of hundreds of lives in fires, floods and storms - yet our government relentlessly denies the problem even exists. Our people cannot afford health and child care, education, housing, retirement... but we spend more on our bloated military than the next five biggest military spenders combined. We remain hamstrung by debt incurred in failed military adventures in the Middle East.
And now we have set ourselves against the world, a fortress nation erecting physical walls, detention camps and quotas to keep migrants and ‘terrorists’ out; and self-defeating tariffs to wall off economic competitors.
Not only a nation in crisis, but a nation in deep denial, racing towards self-destruction and failure. Donald Trump is our avatar - a chest-thumping, loudmouthed, cowardly paper tiger whose comeuppance is long overdue.
16
What horrid, horrid and incompetent people so high up in the administration. We have to be rid of them before they totally destroy us.
37
Let's tell it like it is here...Mike Pompeo and the Trump administration have an unevolved, immature, "old school," ivory tower, it's-all-about-ego-and-power-and-being-the-bully approach to domestic and international policy.
The problem is, we now live on a connected, collaborative, work together, partnership, power-sharing world...like it or not.
And that is the only way we can contain the tyrants, terrorists, and technology-addled folks flourishing all over the world.
Grow up and get with the reality gentlemen...it's not all about you and your petty ego needs.
21
Perhaps we should question the usefulness of the United States of America? Calexit anyone?
21
Let’s have NYexit while we’re at it!
3
@Robert Laing
Don't forget Oreexit and Waexit
2
First error by Pompeo is not grasping that Trump's policies are founded in fascist ideology which governs by decree and threats. Trump is not a nationalist; he's a narcissist. Pompeo's criticisms of key international organizations put into place after WWII demonstrates he is up to his elbows in Bannon's final stages implementation of the PNAC via Trump. PNAC is a dangerous neo/Far Right master plan emulating a document used for similar purposes by a little German fellow in 1930s Germany.
Unlike the Instigator in Chief he serves, Pompeo did serve his country but it is evident he forgot what thousands of American men and women in uniform died for over the past 78 yrs. They died protecting America and the world from the likes of Donald J. Trump.
20
Pompeo tells the hard truth, just like Trump does, and some can’t “ handle the truth!”
2
Glad you can decipher what the failing New York president says.
I never can.
1
Apparently none of his supporters, since all he does is lie...and they love it!
1
He doesn't tell the "hard truth', he told hard lies. The hard truth would be direct admission that the UN doesn't always go the way the US wants, that irritates the US, so much it is willing to get rid of the UN and to create something that does the bidding of the US but the statue of the UN. But the hard truth is the US is short on the ideas what it could be
1
Pompeo either is drunk from the poisonous Koolaid of this illegitimate and dangerous administration, or he is is willingly and cravenly parroting positions he doesn't believe in, so as to curry favor from his master, no matter the cost to the US's standing in the world.
The "president" and his minions are first and foremost cowardly, aggressive bullies, who value nothing other than their own fate and fortunes. It is way past time for them to be be held accountable, one by one, for the destruction they've already caused.
9
So, our glorious leader will create a thousand-year liberal world order, if we all just follow loyally and don't ask questions, literally.
2
This is the WH that creates havoc then stops and then says they solved it. So much smarter than the rest of us. Say hello to WWIII, if we leave it up to them. Friend to all murderous regimes worldwide.
5
So, now Pompeo is singing off of Putin's song sheet, right along with Trump. The 2020 election can't come soon enough.
11
Even accepting Pompeo's assessment, has he never heard of the concept of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer?
What better help for American espionage and back-channel diplomacy than to have the leaders of every dictatorship and kleptocracy on earth come to Manhattan on a regular basis?
So the occasional Ahmadinejad, Chavez and Mugabe will foam at the mouth once in a while. Let the puppies bark.
62
And I question the value of Pompeo who seems to enable Trump in willful ignorance of the very intelligence agency he once led (C.I.A.) in covering up and then denying a planned assassination of a U.S. journalist and resident by the titular head of a foreign nation. This is man who has already sold out and is not worth listening to never mind given discussing his inane, out-dated world views. He is no longer credible or respectable representative of our democracy.
9
Clearly the Union of the United States of America is now a major failure.
We must have the individual States exit the Union ASAP and let them all succeed far better on their own.
California etc., First!
13
"... Trump viscerally understands." I wonder if he intended to be so eloquent.
1
Did someone say jettison?
Bingo.
Jettison Trump and Pompeo, at least until we see if the court of justice in Nuremberg will be free for enough time to hold war crimes trials.
To our valued allies in Germany: this might be the ultimate help you could provide.
3
Pompeo has become a limp cartoon character in the world of foreign affairs. Trying to outdo your boss in blunt ignorance is a very hard thing to do as it is impossible to compete with his wording, his spelling and his incoherent thought process.
Pompeo’s effort has made the man even more obsolete.
Let’s get rid of the EU and the UN says a man who didn’t realize that by saying this,
he doomed his own country the United States as well.
Maybe Pompeo and “ tariff man” Trump want to bring tariffs back between all American States, as well as create borders and with each their own passports.
Of course Pompeo is also the Secretary of State who believes that it is ok for Saudi Arabia to kill their political critics, using as his defence that it is is tough world out there.
Giving of course all dictatorships a free out of jail card and liberty to expand these brutalities.
How is it possible that in a democracy one can here all this coming from your own leaders.
When is this all going to end and is it even possible for Republican and Democratic Congress members to realize how devilish and power hungry they have become and turn it around.
There is absolutely no sign of that on the Republican side.
9
Just one step more and he’ll be proposing that the United States is past its best-by date. All these independent states under the thumb of Washington? What’s the point of that? And while we’re at it, why should counties or cities have to put up with states? This is foolishness writ large.
3
And here we thought we were helping to build a better world.
1
Pompeo is a purely provincial political animal. He simply doesn't understand the idea that there is a global politic where information advances require participation or crippling isolation. Trump's choice, and thus, Pompeo's is isolation, but of the sort that is both damaging within and damaging without.
The many bad actors on the world stage can be held at bay, if not eliminated through cooperation of right thinking members of organizations the likes of which Pompeo is critical -- and it would be humorous if it weren't so sad that he actually believes President Trump is leading anything but a parade of insanity.
11
Giving people who hold 19th Century political and economic attitudes and beliefs the power of the United States today is like arming four year olds. They have no concept of the damage they can and will do.
12
They even arm four year olds...
4
The criticism of the Republican Party’s attempts to repeal Obamacare was in part that they had nothing to replace it with. Now Pompeo, speaking for President Trump,is doing the same thing for a number of institutions. What is his replacement for the U.N., the EU, or the OAS? He wants to tear down, but has no plan on how to build back up.
12
This is exactly what I thought while reading this article. It’s very easy to say that this or that is not working, but it takes brains and leadership to offer real alternative solutions. Meanwhile a lot of damage gets done.
7
American leadership ? Those days are over and will not return. UK suffering while a member of EU ? According to the Bank of England itself, all Brexit alternatives will make life harder in UK. American Chief Diplomat Mr. Pompeo quite undiplomatic in Brussels. Poor USA.
9
The EU is a union of your closest allies bar Canada. Questioning its right to exist is an attack on them and the only winner will be Putin. Mind boggling.
28
When is the last time we had a war with England or France? Is there anyone in this administration that has any level of competence?
12
Once again the Tumpsters, as they did with the Affordable Care Act, want to throw it out because it does work and because it puts the brakes on their unrestrained lust for power. Power and its unholy selfish possession is what these folks are about while the U.N. and the E.U. are anti-authoritarian. Why else would Pres. Trump praise despots like Putin and denigrate shared-power institutions?
16
Pompeo, Trump, and Bolton are partisan hacks or worse who know nothing about foreign policy and care little about the pertinent facts. Look, for instance, at North Korea. Trump's reality-TV summit was an abject failure. The longstanding system of international cooperation has benefitted billions around the globe. International cooperation and international agreements like NAFTA, The Paris Agreement, and the Iran nuclear deal were working and are the best answer we have for immigration, trade, climate change, nuclear disarmament and the like.
13
The US bankrolls the U.N. Germany bankrolls the EU. When will the others step up? Mr Pompeo is merely stating the obvious.
3
@dksmo
...and Putin bankrolls Trump. You forgot the most important part.
8
With oil at $50 Putin can't bankroll much.
Germany does not bankroll the EU why should they? The EU is a successstory built from former enemies turned into allies.
4
No one cares what these clowns say, they even manage to lie about about the murder of WAPO reporter in Saudi Consulate and Jim Mattis went along with the same lie against all the CIA intercepts and tapes.
Corrupt to the bone, all of them!!!
16
And so we move towards World War 3
7
Stephen Miller or Steve Bannon write this for him?
14
Stay strong, Dear friends in the EU. YOU are now the leaders of the free world - and the last hope for the continuance of democracy.
192
“Mr. Pompeo called Britain’s decision to leave the European Union a “political wake-up call” for the bloc“
Not as much as a wake up call for the UK to the fact that Northern Ireland exists and the Good Friday Agreement hampers a real Brexit without breaking the aforementioned treaty.
Pompeo is rather out of the loop with this which is maybe an indication of all the other things he said!
10
Such a nonsense Britain has not left the EU and probably will not leave it as the real economy will only loose and people realize that politicians and clowns like Boris Johnson are mere liars.
1
It appears that Pompeo is in sync with his president. The grand policy object seems to be a return to the imperial era of the Great Powers of the late 19th century and of pre-WW I. All the big players today are striving to reach the top of the heap and control as much territory as they can - directly or indirectly.
Pompeo seems to be acting the part of the blustering Iron Chancellor Bismarck to a weak and vacillating monarch but instead of his Emperor Wilhelm II we've got Donald I. The present monarch-president has no experience in foreign affairs but neither does his Secretary of State, a/k/a Chancellor Pompeo.
This is a ghastly comedy-drama with the rest of us watching in horror. We are hoping the "kindly ones" don't combust our world before we've had a chance to destroy it with climate change instead of cyberwar, economic warfare or, last but not least, a shooting war.
Trump and all the apparatchiks in his sad government will take us down to perdition. Who said that World War III is unthinkable?
113
@Janet W.
who's Franz Ferdinand?
1
UN is useless. Time for the USA to pull out of it and throw them out of NYC
3
@NYC Dweller
The “pull out method” is not effective against unwanted pregnancies. Or world wars.
3
The EU is on a list of bad actors, while Russia, Saudi Arabia and North Korea wear white hats.
Dancing on the ceiling in Upsidedown World hoping the music never stops.
17
I question the value of Mr. Pompeo to anyone but his Robber Baron paymasters.
My fervent wish is that Investigator Mueller will find so much evidence of treason that the entire administration and all
The Con Don's appointees can be kicked out and run out of town on a rail.
Let us pray.
24
Didn't the high five between Putin and the Saudi prince get through to The Con Don?
He's bee played. There is no honor among thieves and sharks eat each other.
Now WE THE PEOPLE must make sure he doesn't do anything dangerous before we can get him OUT of OUR white house.
13
It strikes me that Mr. Trump, Mr. Pompeo, and that weird mustache guy, are dragging us quickly back through history to the good old days of Kaiser Wilhelm and the Romanovs when wealthy capitalists could muster all of the Western world to fight off the evil Huns and Bolsheviks. What the world needs today is more war! More domination! More world conquering weapons! Who needs alliances except weak countries with weak leaders! America first!
12
once again the trumpites are the worlds foremost experts on all issues - its just such a wonderful world.
2
What Pompeo is really saying is that "if these organizations do not let the USA control every facet of their work and if those organizations do not support the USA in everything it does, then they must go." "America, America uber alles"
9
What is really failing right now is the US Administration, whose arrogant conduct, matched only by its manifest incompetence, can only bring shame and disquiet to all of us as Americans.
International organizations have their failings. They depend on us to work harder to put them right. But there is, at the end of the day, no substitute for international cooperation, however frustrating it can be. A prideful hegemon which cannot get its own domestic act together and puts forth Trump as its idea of a leader is no solution.
Pompeo attributes to Trump a "visceral" understanding of things. Well, it has to be a "visceral" something, because it obviously isn't articulate or discursive or even minimally informed. But "understanding" is just not the right word.
The bad faith shown in this speech stinks to high heaven. Either we as a nation repudiate this entire approach to world politics or we are done for. Our decline as a nation will be irreversible.
203
Pompeo listed Swift as one of the only three that work. Wrong. The US has been abusing Swift, and it is the one on the whole list that is actually being undermined and replaced today by other nations.
Pompeo was pompous, but ignorant. It is the craziness of Bolton, filtered through the minimal understanding of Trump. Pompeo is dangerous to the US. He could do real damage before he's gone.
10
@Mark Thomason
I agree completely
4
Another call to the American people to end this horrid Trump regime quickly. We cannot wait.
9
Mike Pompeo, brought to you by the Koch Brothers. If they can't make money off it, he's against it...
10
Who does not question or criticize the UN and EU? Is there an intelligent person on the planet who thinks both these institutions are just swell as they are?
15
@Navigator
psst. Ever hear of the Marshall Plan?
11
@Navigator how many wonderful things the UN does in terms of aid to fight hunger, support refugees, community development in the less developed areas, eradicated diseases, etc. The UN and EU are not just political machines but lifelines for so many people around the world that do not have a voice, especially in countries that do not have democratic institutions. The research the UN does, specifically in areas of the Millenium goals and climate change reports, are crucial. It's so naive to think of the world as a bunch of independent countries serving their own interests.
22
@Navigator
We need to clean up the corruption in the white house and congress and then we can focus on making the UN better.
All private monies out of WA and no conflicts of interests especially the president who is beholden to murderous dictators
18
America questions the value of people like Pompeo, Bolton, trump and the rest of them.
Enough of this.
4
Only so long as they serve US interests, huh? Might as well include NATO.
3
Pompeo seems to support a lot of Trump’s outlandish and impractical positions like the Khashoggi murder. Pompeo is way too close to Trump especially when Trump is sure to face legal battles soon.
Pompeo should resign and be replaced by someone who can do the job and is not beholden to Trump.
3
Like the rest of the cabal, this guy sold his political soul for a moment in the spotlight. If he had a reputation anywhere other than Kansas, he, like the rest of them will remembered for his valuable contribution to a very bad joke...
9
i'm with pompeo. war is the answer.
1
Ah, my favorite John Lennon song!
2
These institutions were born out of crisis. The crisis now is populist incompetents. If you want to tear something down, you should have an idea of what will replace it. Otherwise you’re just destructive.
108
I question the value of Pompeo. Perhaps he and Trump should live on the moon.
4
Well I have a question for Pompeo: is he so dismissive as to want to lump even proven organizations such as UNICEF, which has indeed been successful in its mission to be aiding children around the world, in this diatribe? I truly hope this crowd is voted out in 2020. At least Russia, China and the others in there P5 understand the importance of an international organisation like the UN system. Fine, stop paying your dues and leave, the rest of the world will carry on without America under Trump.
7
Pompeo dares to question the implicit accountability of multilateral institutions. Accountability to their member states and accountability to citizens.
Bravo !
Globalists shriek in anger -- but don't have an abundance of good results to point to.
3
???? Peace, prosperity, or you prefer war and suffering
7
Pompeo shows he is unfit to be Secretary of State. He is a great "yes" man, but a total failure as a diplomat. It is sad - for the country. Both Trump and Pompeo need to be replaced by professionals. The White House and Department of State are no places to learn on the job - if one is even capable of learning.
9
If Pompeo, as Secretary of State, will continue to parrot Trump's iniquities, what's the value of his office, if justice and the truth are just an afterthought? What moral standing does he have to criticize the shortcomings of the United Nations and the European Union...while complicit with prince Salman's assassination of Jamal Khashoggi?
13
It appears that Pompeo is overstepping his Boss, while undermining his own importance within the world's view. SAD!
2
Pompeo took Trump's side that there was not clear evidence the MBS ordered the Khashoggi murder. He can't be trusted or believed, and the fact that he was head of the CIA makes me feel very unsafe.
19
Of course, Trump and his leg breakers hate the EU. Unlike, the UN it has teeth, and can go toe to toe with the US on trade and regulation. After Brexit, poor Britain will no longer be protected from US bully power. The one bilateral agreement Brexit Britain signed with the US concerns air travel and - surprise - Britain got a much worse deal than the EU.
Trump wants to divide Europeans so that he can bully them into lop-sided trade deals. In short, he tries to act like China to beat it. But in the process, he only succeeds in making the US look no better than China - esp. after Republican attempts to undermine US democracy at home.
7
In short, Trump is doing exactly what Putin wants him to do.
5
@EBurgett EU is the teutonic empire reborn. In a good way.
1
Divide to reign, the russian doctrine.
American doctrine has always been the exact opposite: unite for peace.
If M. Pompous doesnt want to manage US foreign relations, he can resign. No one will miss him.
9
Beautifully stated. Thanks
4
I don‘t think most Europeans take a guy like Pompeo very seriously. His kind of talk is just to hyperbolic and unrealistic and everybody knows that those ideas would be simply ignored or met with great resistance should he try implement them.
4
Yes, Putin would like that. This is what he is after all along. Isolating individual countries decreases the strength and influence of smaller countries and increases his. He was already successful throwing Great Britain and the US into chaos and he is clearly building his own alliances for example with the Saudi crown prince.
11
It's so laughable to read people commenting about the US' allies. We don't have any. We do have a LOT of DEPENDENTS: Europe, Saudi Arabia, Israel, S. Korea, Japan and others. Especially Europe. Since WWI it's a been a one way flow of lives and money from the US to Europe. All Trumps is saying is the gravy train needs to stop. Let Europe pay for its own defense. And the other "allies" need to do the same. The Democrats in the US would rather attack Trump than thank him for standing up for the US.
2
@Reader In Wash, DC: you conveniently forget that the US depends heavily on foreign countries to buy the ever increasing debt that the US is issuing. So it's perhaps a bit arrogant (and ignorant) to think that it's been a one-way street. Saudi Arabia and Israel are surely dependent on the US, but one can ask whether these are the best allies to find a solution in the Middle East? I for one think that Saudi Arabia is a lot more dangerous than Iran. Who is exporting Wahabi Islam to the world by financing mosques everywhere? Who was behind 9/11? Not Iran. While you have a point that other countries have not spent as much on defense as the US, maybe these countries made wiser investment decisions: investing in education and infrastructure? Pompeo's show was vintage Trump. We are the strongest, so we run the world, no questions asked.
8
@Reader In Wash, DC WE are the one dependent ON Saudi Arabia; we are willing to be their PR agent for selling weapons. Israel is the 51st state, or perhaps the first state controlling the US. tRump is NOT STANDING UP for the US, he is standing up for the financial interests of his family and supporters.
4
Though factually you could have a point if you look only at today’s situation. But you seem to lack the understanding of how we got here and more important, what role the US played in the decisionsthat got us here. This is what you wanted your allies like europe and israel to look and be like. Now you cry wolfe of them being too dependent. But noblesse oublige. Sweat it out and stop the disdain and ignorant shouting match. Work with all in a respectful manner and it’ll turn out fine. Or else it will become a very lonely world for the US.
1
Let the Europeans pay the lion's share for NATO rather than the US. The Europeans get the lion's share of the benefit.
2
@Reader In Wash, DC The US may withdraw from NATO; EU can deal with Russia - perhaps with a WW3.
Secretary Pompeo can try to bolster his case for President Trump’s “go it alone/bridge burning” approach by presenting the foreign policy achievements the US has achieved during the last two years.
How is it going with North Korea’s full-scale nuclear program? What about Iran? Trade deals? Immigration solutions? Climate change strategic plans? Humanitarian disasters and war crimes in Yemen? Peace in Syria? Crisis in Crimea? Endless war in Afghanistan?
14
I disagree with several comments below denigrating our secretary and more importantly, attempting to silence a different voice or at least a tune.
I think the secretary could have gone further and pointedly reminded audience about what is happening in France.
Today's events in France are a poster child of international institutions, EU etc failing the very citizens who support Brussels via huge taxes.
The NYT quoted a Frenchman yesterday. He said "Macron talks about end of the world on account of climate etc and I am worried about end of month to feed my family."
I think after 70 years of these international institutions - not a bad idea to discuss if they are serving what they were originally created to do. Or hiwo they can be modernized.
As to all these so called elections for Brussels - that this man "simplified."
No one cares about this facade. This so called European parliament had created more folks determined to milk this cow.
I have yet to hear a single action of this so called parliament that challenged Brussels.
From what I can see is EU reduced to a marathon of heads of state meetings, summits - all year around.
Finally, if it is not our secretary who should speak with authority on international issues - why - ask a HUD secretary to give this speech.
He was hired to do just that - talk on foreign policy.
1
Just another barbarian speaking about things he doesn’t understand.
Pompeo is the perfect Secretary of State for a state that is in a terrible state!
27
By the same logic the USA doesn't need a Secretary of State who turns deaf ears and moot eyes to an assassination..
49
The hubris, arrogance and ignorance is appalling.
America should be shunned by all and any responsable, intelligent and free-thinking countries.
21
@cynthia
Yes indeed. Let France start shunning all the US dollars that pay for its defense.
2
@cynthia Indeed the US IS BEING shunned. The US WANTS ti leave Afghanistan 'with honor' - but I am afraid it will be something like the 'escape' from Vietnam.
2
@Reader in Wash: You may recall that not long ago Macron suggested that Europe should do just as you suggest: build up its own defense and abandon the notion that it can depend on the United States. Do you also recall the braying from the White House in response? We’re the drug dealers, our allies are the addicts. And we’ve built our economy and our global influence peddling what we’ve got to sell.
You don’t seem to have given much thought to what happens when our customers begin saying ‘thanks, but no thanks’ and then ‘hasta la bye bye.’ It’s likely something along the lines of The Decline and Fall of the American Empire. Be careful what you ask for; but you’re probably going to get it whether you ask for it or not. And it will not be pretty. You may want to learn a bit of Spanish, Russian and above all Mandarin, just in case.
4
I think we now know what instructions were transmitted to Mr Trump in Argentina.
22
Considering the abysmal record of West Point, and military, graduates graduates generally to show any kind of minimal independent thought process, Pompeo's priggish, benighted approach to foreign relations is not surprising. It takes a certain kind of hubris and diminished capacity developed to its greatest potential to reach the level of failure that has become the hallmark of military "thinking" in this country since WW2. A continuous parade of losing wars by replaying the same endlessly worthless strategies is not something just any institution can do , but our brass-hound, spit and polished military hierarchy has managed it with nary a squeak or squawk.
Tragically this priggishness and hubris combines to make the sacrifices of our sons and daughters who have signed up with trust and confidence to support the long-bloodied and discredited strategies of these stooges not only sad but tragically pointless.
Sadly the sacrifices of our sons and daughters and the millions of lives these policies have disrupted as we are now doing in Yemen and elsewhere are the counterpoint to the failures of the failed strategies and the poor judgment of our selves for trusting in such relentlessly short-sighted, self-seeking leadership.
Dismiss the UN?...take a hike amigo.
https://www.americansecurityproject.org/national-security-strategy/u-s-bases-in-the-middle-east/
10
@Dave Hey buddy, I am a product of one of those military institutions. Please don't be like Trump and paint everyone to be the same.
3
@Dutch
Here's the deal. I know for almost absolute certain neither you nor anyone of officer rank you have ever known has resigned or taken any concrete steps to oppose a major military involvement. Further, there has not been one single major military undertaking except Desert Storm that either you or any officer you may know has ever participated in.
1
@Dutch.
Sorry , I left out a key word:
Further, there has not been one single SUCCESSFUL major military undertaking except Desert Storm (and on a small scale the execution of Osama Ben Laden) that you or any officer you may know of has ever participated in.
1
The UN and other institutions that have been essential to international peace and prosperity are the emblems of what true American leadership is all about. Let’s regain our senses and jettison Mr. Pompeo along with the destructive Trump administration, which seems to be committed to forsaking America’s leadership in exchange for a destructive nationalism that will help no one, least of all the United States.
21
Yup, we did so well, like the invasion of Iraq, against the advice of international groups like the UN and the EU. Some times the sheer audacity of some of our second rate politicians really astounds and confabulates?
37
@David g k we forget that the invasion of Afghanistan is a worse mess than Iraq -- a Bushes legacy both. Cheney and Rumsfeld should be up for some questioning.
6
I didn't believe that it could get worse. . . . but it is. where do these people come from? did they not grow up in the US? did they not read any history? Pompeo should be booted out of government immediately . well, Sen Graham?
32
If anything, the UN should be significantly strengthened in terms of its peacekeeping capacity and the rule allowing any on nation in the Security Council to veto intervention by UN peacekeepers modified so that those forces can be used much more often and robustly. Of course that will never happen because the US, Russia and China fear their ability to bully, exploit and oppress weaker nations and their own citizens so they guard their precious sovereignty as if it's sacrosanct.
Frankly, given the rate the world has been overpopulating and overbuilding since 1800; overusing its natural resources (including the fossil fuels, forests and aquifers that took centuries to develop); and over-polluting the lands, air, rivers, lakes and oceans with garbage, sewage and other human and animal waste: we will destroy ourselves and what remains habitable on this planet at some point unless all nations and peoples of this world can put their own self-interest, selfishness and greedy materialism behind them in order to save our species and what remains of other species via a planet-wide body of laws and regulations. Such law and regs would be enforced by a true united nations with teeth in the form of a real army, navy and air force. Local cultures could be retained but it would mean the USA and others would have to give up their sovereignty in return for saving the entire world. Is that too much to ask of America? Of course it is!
16
@Jamie Nichols
I am so grateful for the Electoral college and the Senate.
2
@Jamie Nichols
You offer to sacrifice the very sovereignty that provides you a remarkably privileged (by world standards) lifestyle (including relative comfort and freedoms). (A sovereignty that I highly doubt you have ever sacrificed anything for.)
And all you ask is that the USA (and others..) 'save the entire world'.
Perhaps you should do it yourself.
3
@KBronson
Yup ... who needs majority rule? Neither the electoral college nor the senate majorities represent a majority of the population. We have gone from the founders' fear of large states dominating small states to a reality of small states dominating large states.
5
Mike.
Please return to Kansas. Your state desperately needs you.
Thanks,
All American Citizens
31
Pompeo's point is well taken. The EU has little significance in that each EU member still calls its own shots. The unilateral decisions by Angela Merkel of Germany to let in so many immigrants from the Middle East and Africa then dividing them up all over Europe is just a simple example of the zero significance of Brussels. Same obviously can be discussed about the UN here in New York. Wasted space.
3
So totally agree!!
@rudolfHave you ever been to Europe?
1
@rudolf
Following up on your argument, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii get little from being in the US and should form their own country (maybe with Nevada included).
2
Pompeo is an obsequious minion of Trump's. Trump's gut tells him that the UN is useless and it frequently takes exception to his flighty opinions, so it has to go. Pompeo ended up as Sec. of State with his patronizing CIA slideshow briefings continually praising the President for his wisdom and genius. As an adviser to the President he is useless, he's just part of Trump's echo chamber. We have no idea what Pompeo really thinks or what he thinks.
Various international bodies serve the extremely useful role of providing a forum for wronged parties to complain rather than bringing out their weapons to demolish their adversaries. The intangible benefit of international bodies for discussion is useful beyond measure.
Trump, the source of Pompeo's echo, sees everything as transactional. Make a request to the UN; expect a prompt definitive response in your favor. The UN won't be prompt and it may not be in your favor, but it can defuse dangerous interactions.
Even Trump should realize this, although he doesn't. Trump's interactions and discussions with Kim Jong Un over nuclear development seem to have accomplished very little. Kim is proceeding with his weapons development as if nothing had been discussed. Nevertheless, the discussions may have had the effect of damping down the drive to military action. That is tangible, if not fitting the definition as expected by Trump.
22
When the head of the CIA questions the existential value of the European Union, it becomes quite reasonable to speculate the existence of an Russo-American conspiracy to explain the seemingly abrupt appearance of the anarchist Yellow Vest insurrection in France.
Both Washington and Moscow have shared reasons to promote the destabilisation of France, for Paris remains the last stable value in the crumbling edifice of the E.U. Something about Trump's very personal alliance with Putin suggests something analogous to the Molotov-Von Ribbentrop Pact heralding the Second World War. The French had better get ready for some treacherous times ahead with far bigger problems than torched cars and high schools.... the United States and Russia are simply licking their chops today to divvy the spoils in the form of the E.U.'s economic collapse (to American benefit), as well as territorial expansion for Russia with the blessing of the Trump regime.
24
@AE
I was wandering about the hostility toward the E.U. by the right-wing. But yes an alliance between putin and trump makes sense taking into consideration their friendly behavior. What's weird is the open happy greetings between MBS and putin. The games are getting treacherous.
What's really scary is that the U.S. has only 2 major political parties, and one is criminal gang with an ersatz mob boss leading them.
Whooh boy, are we in trouble or what?
6
@AE Read up on the history of Russia/ USSR interference in US affairs, even by moles, before, during, and after WW2 up to now. Is this an attempt to recreate white domination of the world.
4
North Korea deal: nuclear threat no longer an issue
Tariffs on imported wood: construction costs up 40%
Iran Agreement: canceled without a replacement
Paris Climate Accord: canceled while adding to the climate threat, who cares...
NAFTA: on the brink of canceled with cheap renamed replacement
European Allies: treated like enemies, US bridges being burned
Tariffs on imported steel & aluminum: manufacturing is sputtering under the increased costs and broken supply chains
Dictatorships: embraced like powerful mob bosses, murder is condoned
Roiling markets: just because the GOP is complicit and trump doesn’t care; he’ll play hardball until he gets bored or win, no matter the cost
Is America safer? No
Is America stronger? No
Is America greater? No
Is America in peril? Yes.
32
It’s no secret Trump and Putin are trying their best to destroy the EU. Theres’s much more money to be made dealing with countries individually rather than dealing with a united block of 27 countries and Trump only understands the language of money. Cambridge Analytica and Russia did their part on Brexit as they did with America in 2016. Exactly the same recipe. The Breibart guy moved to brussels to enlighten Le Pén, Órban, Salvini and the like. Seems like someone is trying pretty hard to establish a new world order. For the average citizen, looking at Russia, the US, China, India… i think the EU is a great place to live. It’s far from perfect, and as a Portuguese i know that very well unlike the French or the German, but it’s still a good place to live and i believe were better together. According to Forbes, in 2018, 7 of the 10 happiest countries in the world are in europe, 5 of them in the EU, so the EU must be doing something right. Money and guns will always speak louder but it would be a pitty to destroy something that to took so long to develop and should be seen like an example in so many ways, not a target
38
Can you imagine if the head of the European Union used the same arguments as Pompeo did? Or Trump when he encouraged Macron to leave the union? Hey, California, or whichever state, just leave the union and do business with us. This administration shows such disrespect for democratically built politically institutions...
13
@Maria80 Actually from a European perspective the USA is eveything else but a functioning united state amd Americans might be better off to dissolve that union considering the big cultural differences between the coastal states and the Republican states.
Agree it's not perfect, but we don't have European politicians coming to our congress and calling them inefficient. The EU was not built in one day, it was done in stages and democratically. I just find appalling his lack of diplomacy, when he's supposed to be our top diplomat.
Here we go. This will be the next Trump/GOP push to isolate us. Perhaps Nikki Haley knew this was coming and resigned ahead of this obvious isolation tsunami. Soon America will not belong to anything but itself. We will support no one and help no one. We will allow no immigration but that with those of merit who will enrich us. We are slowly but surely withdrawing from the rest of the world. The UN headquarters will move to Europe or Asia. We will partner up with Trump's buds in Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Philippines. Radical? Yes But quite probable and possible if this administration stays in office for the next 2 to 6 years.
10
Here's the dilemma facing Trump - and here's why we have disclosure policies for elected officials.
Evidence is emerging that suggests Trump was pursuing business in Russia during the election (to say nothing of possible "collusion"). The same evidence also suggests that Trump is compromised by Putin, who has information about Trump that has been withheld from the US authorities and certainly the US public.
We also know that as Trump pursued business ties in Russia, the Republican party stance towards Russia softened dramatically - all due to Trump's influence. This was done in plain sight.
This has created, at the very least, the appearance of a conflict of interest with Trump vis-a-vis Russia. It means that any foreign policy statement from Trump will be "tainted" by potential Russian kompromat. So then, is Pompeo's hard line towards the EU and UN to serve US interests or Russian ones?
This cloud will persist for the duration of Trump's presidency, no matter how long (or short) it is.
11
That's right throw some more gas on the fire why don't you. The scary thing here is if Pompeo believes in this trite uninformed world view we have much to worry about, because he was a bureaucrat and military officer with lots power. My goodness we have dangerous simpletons running the country on all levels now.
Couldn't come at a worse time for the EU.
35
He should be fired. He basically wants dictatorships. High IQ but almost to idiotically loyal to Trump to his attempt to change the US into a dictatorship. Very dangerous ideology. Maybe he is jealous of the domination that he sees in dictatorships.
16
@Ralph Petrillo
I believe sir, that you mean Trump should be fired.
3
@db2 Both?
2
"In a major speech on Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tried to explain one of the abiding conundrums of the Trump administration: How does a nationalist lead on the international stage?"
Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin come to mind. Although Trump isn't nearly as bright or competent as either of those two.
27
trump is an illegitimate president. at this point his foreign policy is without meaning. we just need to wait this out. Mike Pompeo has made himself wholly irrelevant...forever. as the book title says, everything trump touches dies
19
Imagine if a European politician would go to Washington DC and do an offical speech saying the US should be broken up...
Trump and his clowns should stop interfering in EU’s and other countries’ business. It is bad enough that the corrupt Republicans are destroying their own country — please don’t drag the rest of the world into that mess.
Can’t wait for 2020!
/Proud European
47
@Svante
"Imagine if a European politician would go to Washington DC and do an offical speech saying the US should be broken up... "
Great idea! Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii get little from being in the US and should form their own country (maybe with Nevada included). The same with New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts (but they may need to take Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine as part of the deal).
3
And World Wars I & II? What's your boss's "visceral understanding" of those? Did they "serve the people"? On a platter?
16
He is a complete right wing ideologue, but much worse a facilitator of the dangerous demagogue president. This administration can not be out of power soon enough.
26
Perhaps Pompeo has, along with Mr. Trump, become another esteemed member of the High-Fiver Club, all according to The Plan.
5
There is something about the eyes of the representatives of this administration that is so unsettling. No look of genuine care of, service to and interest in the country. Just a sinister, self serving, malevolent coldness.
19
Here's another acronym that's failing the interests of the people: USA
17
Yes , why not break up this union. Frankly, I’m sick and tired of all my tax dollars going to welfare states like Mississippi, Alabama, Kansas, etc. secede!
2
Oh Lord, we need these people swept from office ASAP, this is just a more and more horrible nightmare from which we beg to awake.
Trump and Pompeo. Bolton. The Cabinet Secys to a person. All so backward, running our nation and our values into the ground. Nature. Fairness. The need for cooperation and friends being always recognized. We have arrived at such a low point we daily wonder how it could go any lower. But Pompeo just told us.
GET THEM OUT. They are a menace to the world--hard to believe we could have gotten worse than Cheney and Wolfowitz and Bremer...but here we are. They should all be in jail for gross violations of human rights and rule of law and tax evasion and probably MYRIAD other crimes against the American public and other civilians across the world.
22
I question the value of Pompeo. Nuff said.
16
No doubt the Trump administration is against the UN because they feel the authority of the POTUS will not be questioned anytime by anyone.
At least as long as they hold power.
The Most. Corrupt. Administration. Ever. thinks it is above all laws.
28
Does Pompeo also have extensive financial ties to Russia and Russians like Trump? He's acting just like a Manchurian Candidate himself in carrying Putin's water. Instead of eliminating the UN and other international bodies that the US established and uses to greatly influence world event an let's just eliminate Trump and Pompeo from our political lives.
13
This is winning with all the best people.
Pfffft. Good grief.
Hey Bob, got that report ready yet?
Anytime now, eh Bob?
Help Mr. Wizard.
1
And some men just want to watch the world burn.
14
Rather it looks like time for USA to eliminate Pompeo. While he fronts for Saudi murderer Mohammad bin Salman and does Putin’s work on Trump behalf as he dismantle US State Dept as a prelude to cut U.N.
14
Mike Pompeo is a Tea Party ideologue and unfit to be the Secretary of State (just as his boss is unfit to be the president.)
He's a terrible ambassador and a shameless Trump sycophant.
27
Mike Pompeo wants to make us believe that America First means what is good for the US is good for everybody else, too. Mr. Trump is far more honest: he says the world is a snake pit of nations competing, and his job is to ensure that the US stay on top. Pompeo ostensibly criticizes the UN, the EU, and other multilateral institution for their real and glaring shortcomings. But in reality for this administration their only shortcoming is that they do not serve the America First agenda.
1
The key is in the last sentence...' Where America leads....'
A lot of us in the international community, including many in my home country, don't want to follow the US when Trump is leading it.
Does that make us irresponsible ? Does that make us vulnerable to US retribution? Because the way this administration talks it sounds a lot like, 'follow us or else' and that's frightening.
46
Let's not forget that Pompeo is nothing more than a Peter-principled, tea party congressman. There's no reason to expect ability or accomplishment from him.
59
@Glenn
Who was top of his class at West Point. That is all.
That doesn’t make him qualified for his current job. The fact that he can’t button his jacket proves he lacks any self discipline.
3
As a former cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, I am astonished Secretary Pompeo, first in his class in 1986, continues to bash our allies and defies international order and peace with such bombastic statements. One of the things you learn in the U.S. Army and the Academy is that you cannot do it alone. You need friends, battle buddies and allies to accomplish any goal bigger than oneself. As Secretary Pompeo apparently did not learn while he was a cadet was cooperation to achieve goals bigger than the self. The post-World War II order is in serious trouble if he is helping formulating misinformed and likely dangerous isolationist foriegn policy.
102
@It's Just Me
Or, he and his boss are doing it on purpose under Vlad's orders.
20
That’s even more horrendous than It’s Just Me’s hypothesis.
2
You'll find that somewhere along the line he was love-bombed, cleaved and promoted by members of the evangelical movement. He's of the palid righteous, with gritted teeth when the ungodly speak.
4
Mr. Pompeo apparently believes that offering the 500 million descendants of the craven depravity of the first and second wars doesn’t warrant supporting the small fraction of government workers who hold together the bonds which insure their freedom and liberty - suggesting it’s not worth it. Well Mr. Pompous, I hope you’re enjoying your slide into fascism while those stalwart and brave civil servants push forward to ensure a real chance for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - something SEVERELY lacking across the pond!
31
I am sure Trump would love to ditch NATO, the U.N. and more in favor of a unilateral with Putin. Of course, there would be regular meetings in the new Trump Towers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi.
17
So the Trump Administration is trying to force Germany to abandon a pipeline that would enrich Russia by facilitating their sale of gas to Europe AND also attacking Russia publicly for failing to comply with the Nuclear Arms treaty; which absolutely proves that Trump is controlled as Putin's puppet and stooge because he is being blackmailed by Putin for handing him the election??
No wonder! That makes perfect sense to the leftists and the media!
3
The United States as been at war ever since the UN was created.
4
Mike Pompeo is the Head of the US State Department. He should have been fired immediately after this speech.
42
I do question the value of the USA in the present world.
27
@Roland Berger
As do I. Tomorrow Mulroney delivers a eulogy for Bush. I wonder if there are many of us who still believe that submitting us to the up and downs of the USA's failing economy was a good thing.
I am sure Sherbrooke and Magog's booming economy would more than welcome a caravan or two of refugees to fill some of our need for new citizens.
I have come to the conclusion that we need the USA to show us what not to do
7
@Roland Berger
Rightly so. I am with you all the way on that....
6
@Roland Berger - I'm in the thick of it, and I'm equally concerned about the danger of Fascist Trump USA and his deplorable cast of idiots (ie supporters) to the planet. If ignorance is greatness - we are the maga. (Lyrics soon for a reboot of "We are the world, we are the maga....")
5
Multilateral institutions are the only option to deal with supranational issues such as migration, natural catastrophes, wars etc. crossing borders. Nationalistic reflexes hit a wall very quickly. The US is only doing well, when the rest of the world is. That is where the UN comes in to provide the stage for multilateral agreements and take action. However, that action needs to be much more pronounced.
3
Mike Pompous was MY former Congress Person. He is untouchable in the brown nosing and grandiose servility contest. Exactly the person Trump would choose, and keep. He will be the last " man " standing, and propping up the Creature. Count on it.
56
Pompeo is a Trump puppet, sad!
16
With a United States government stolen by his boss with Russian assistance, Pompeo should question the value of a group of Blue and Gerrymandered Red states like the USA.
I guess Bolton got to him too - infected with the Bolton-trump disease of global dictatorial kleptocracy - with trump proclaiming himself "king of the world" on the bow of planet Trumptanic - with NATO's military there to enforce his will.
Trump is not abandoning his friends and allies - he just wants to reinforce his dictatorial leadership by dictating his wants, needs and desires on them. And like pompous Pompeo's arrogance, trump will not be questioned.
The arrogance of this group of nihilist-nationalists disregard the fact that we all live on one and only one planet that we all depend on to live and therefore MUST share in order to survive. A single finite planet means a finite amount of wealth to be had even though no amount of astronomical wealth stolen by the kleptocrats is enough - ever.
Of course SWIFT is praised by Pompeo, et al. It's the greatest weapon the global kleptocratic class has developed to instantly offshore America's wealth - tax free and at the click of a button. No wonder they like SWIFT.
“President Trump knows that when America leads, peace and prosperity follow." Not this time around, buster, and everybody knows it.
8
These people are dangerous. They don't seem to care if we go back to the days of world war -- heck, perhaps it is what they desire. Lots of money made and opportunities to seize power, out of all that human suffering.
26
How can a man who does not even manage to get a decent haircut believe that he can reshape the whole world ? This speech of Pompeo is Bannonism pure. I just hope that the pontential dangers in this stupid worldview do not materialize and that opposition in the USA will be strong.
15
Is it Mike Pompeo or Mike Pompous? This too will pass.
6
Pompeo and Bolton are far right nut cases that do not believe in international cooperation...and frankly they may be in Russia's pocket with their point of view...
28
It's incredible what ventriloquist's dummies the Trump people are for both Israel (attacking the UN) and Israel's new best friend, Putin (attacking the EU). Both of these organizations have served America well for decades, even if they've been rather hard, for very good reason, on Likud Israel (UN) and Russia (EU). Trump is acting more and more like Samson, but instead of crushing his country's enemy with his dying gesture, Trump, on the way to Palookaville, is trying to bring down the temple on his own country. The new Axis of Evil: Jerusalem--Riyadh--Moscow--DC.
5
I guess the the USA has always been isolationist in the past, but now times are hard, it is finally showing its head.
6
Never send boys to do a mans job. We appear to have sent boys to this International meeting. Trumputin only picks the best - right??
2
These are the new guys on the block that swagger and push everybody around.They have thug manners and mafia attitudes. Left to their own devices we would have disintegration into war. Many people want to give them a chance, but give them an inch and they take a mile or so. They are not new brooms, they are outlaws raised on conspiracy theories.
5
Mr. Pomeo. There are many people asking how much value there is in you. You're just another Trump stooge.
18
I question if Pompeo and others like him which inhibit the world of Donald Trump (no like to list them) have brains given the continual tripe coming from their mouths on a daily basis.
3
While this administrations stated goal is to strengthen the United States, with efforts like this, they will inevitably contribute to her decline, since it will only re-enforce the impression of other countries that the US no longer represents a reliable partner. As a result, we will undoubtedly see a push for other countries and organizations to arrange themselves in a way that, in the best case, no longer counts on the US playing a leading role in the world order, or in the worst case completely shuts the US out.
While increased independence of the US is something this administration wants, it will come with a significant cost of a greatly diminished influence, which is quite obviously not something they’ve been preparing for.
I am not sure I can recall another case of a nation deliberately pushing for a diminished role of influence, but I suppose some things are indeed new under the sun.
1
Seems like this administration's signature talent is withdrawing from agreements, organizations, treaties. New legislation that helps the American people? Nothing of consequence. The new NAFTA? A joke.
What a disaster...
5
How much did the Russians pay trump that his administrations primary objective is to wreck the western alliance. Countries that have stood with the US and had citizens die for the goals of this country are suddenly of no value to the gangster in the white house. Dictators who can pay the stable genius are suddenly above criticism and their word can be trusted. This can not stand.
4
I question the need for someone of Mr. Pompeo's intelligence being Secretary of State.
4
Unless you wanted to strengthen Russia's hand, why on earth would a member of the current US administration want to undermine the EU?
Oh, wait......
14
There will be more clinking of champagne glasses in the Kremlin tonight. Any further political aspirations which Pompeo may be harboring, post-Trump, are D.O.A. Is it true that this guy was #1. in his graduating class at West Point? He has remarkably hitched his wagon to the worst President ever and will, no doubt, pay a very heavy price for his cynical calculation.
5
This is what happens when a president appoints far right wing thinkers.
1
Pompeo was a congressman representing the district in Kansas where Charles Koch keeps a home and where Koch Industries is headquartered. Is there any wonder why Pompeo makes such statements?
9
The clowns have taken over the White House and senate. What could possibly go wrong? Yes, America not so great again? Each person he assigns is never a surprise. They are him through and through. We expect nothing, we want nothing but to have them gone.
1
Pompeo really is desperate to keep his job.
2
Perhaps they could recreate the Axis powers with their dictator friends around the globe--Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Turkey, etc. That seems to be who they most admire.
1
In 1945 the international order, American dominance, and American interests coincided. "Multilateralism" and organizations like the United Nations were the imperfect vehicles through which American economic and political interests organized control of that portion of a global economy that lay beyond the reach of nationalized property relations.
The world had just emerged from a global conflagration where the nation that had suffered the fewest losses made the greatest gains. Contrary to the isolationist retreat from the world stage following WWI, the United States had no choice and every incentive to retain the reins of power ceded to it by the former colonial empires of Western Europe and Japan.
That was the beginning fo the American Century. We are now in the fading twilight of that period and the embers are turning cold.
The arrogant posturing of Secretary Pompeo, “President Trump knows that when America leads, peace and prosperity follow,” is a reflection of a changed situation in which the previous dominance of the American Empire faces new challenges from a rising China and a decline in reflexive servitude from the likes of former puppets such as Duterte in the Philippines.
The perverse rudeness of individuals such as Pompeo, Bolton, Trump, McConnell and others reflects an afterglow masquerading as a warmup. It's the historical inverse of Theodore Roosevelt's speaking softly while carrying a big stick. It's all the difference between ascendancy and decline.
12
@Robert
Great analysis, and while Pompeo and Co talk and talk and talk and wreck and destroy Western institutions, China quietly walks into various countries and starts their 'Belt and Road' projects, sowing the seeds of influence in each place they build, just like the US once did.
The US has given up its role as world leader with a whimper.....
4
I guess Bolton is right. Another example of failed attempts to unite is the Unites States. We should not even try, war and envy suits us much better than happiness anyway.
2
So much hubris and vacuity! He should apply his medecine at home first. Each state that supports Trump and its ilk should redxit. Then they should spend years to negotiate trade deals in isolation with China and the EU and all other countries of the world (if they care to).
The EU is far from perfect (hint: it's too weak, not too strong) but it has assured peace here for decades. If anything, I have much more confidence in the "bureaucrats" in Brussels than in the current plutocrats in Washington to ensure that the interests of any country and their citizens are placed before theirs (to paraphrase).
The senseless destruction proned by these people really angers me.
L'union fait la force (Unity makes strength). Belgium's motto.
9
I would be really good for the EU to develop their own military and nuclear forces to counter the threat of Russia and their ally a Trump led America. The last bastions of democracy are in the EU countries not the US which has sold out to rampant greed of capitalism and its wealthiest citizens.
1
@Will The countries in the EU have their own militaries and nuclear force (France). They have a mechanism for unified command if needed.
After centuries of European wars with hundreds of millions of people being slaughtered by one-another, there has been no serious war between European nations in close to three-quarters of a century following the establishment of the U.N. and the E.U. This is bad?
18
Pompeo really is quite clear - any international institution which does not Make America Great Again is worthless and should be junked.
This includes any direct competitors of the US, anything which deals in matters in which the US does the have much of an interest and any organisation which does not buy into the science-hostile atmosphere current in US government circles. I'm betting he's no fan of international wildlife protection societies and their carping on about climate
change.
When he talks about "our shared values", somehow I hear - "the US's values, which are the only ones which we think anyone should support. Anyone else's values and institutions should be abolished." And they sound off about European "cultural imperialism".
8
I think the interesting thing his comments really illuminated was how transactional the oval office now is. Something is only of value if you can see income from it. I'm not exactly sure what the counterargument is.
1
Mr. Pompeo, wait until there is a global crisis, then you will discover the value of the UN and EU. Or are you saying this for an audience of one?
1
There is not much to say here. The guy flies in from the US and tries to explain to a Brussels-based audience that the EU is wrong and should be abolished. I mean, honestly, how arrogant and culturally insensitive is such a behavior in front of a European audience. The EU is not perfect but it gives me the chance to live and work wherever I want in Europe without a visa, green card etc. I can pay in one currency and travel freely in Europe. This is a wonderful thing! The EU stands for a sustainable policy that supports environmental and green initiatives. It stands for peace and collaboration between its members. I do not think Trump is interested im any of these principles and values. It is sad to see that the US is moving backwards in time with Trump.
21
He questions the relevance of the EU and UN. Sounds like something Donald would say. I will leave it at that.
3
So the "good" institutions are NATO, the Proliferation Security Initiative and SWIFT. Unbelievable. All he and Trump understand are guns and money. These people are a threat to the civilized world.
6
Having run short of institutions in the US to undercut and trash talk, team Trump is focusing its' venom overseas. How many years will it take to rebuild the trust in all these organizations when these malefactors are finally off the stage.
2
Trump's Admin is clearly a mixture of society's misfits, mis-informed, ill-informed, all of whom are determined to do as much harm to all institutions they can get their paws on. Pompeo goes after international ones, and meekly stands by as Trump goes after CIA, FBI, DOJ with false and fabricated accusations. Mulvaney, recipient of many dollars from "pay-day loanshark-like" finance companies undoes as many consumer protections as he can, DeVos goes about destroying as much of public education as possible in the name of Evangelicalism who have already destroyed many on state levels, Ross is a double-dealing mess, Zinke not trustworthy in dealings, etc. Every institution they go after.
3
Based on Pompeo's own words, he could be arguing for the dismantlement of the United States - it could be said that the US Federal Government doesn't execute its mission "faithfully" with respect to its "member states" (which, since the phrase is untethered to any underlying rationale, can be applied to any large collective, like the Boy Scouts or the AFL-CIO).
What would Mr. Pompeo say to a proposal that the West Coast pursue an independent Pacific States, untethered from the bureaucracy imposed by US Government? Could not Oregon, Washington, and California assert that the Federal Government doesn't "faithfully" execute its mission, with respect to those States? For example, should those States be burdened with the costs of supporting (and appeasing) the Southern States?
In other words, Mr. Pompeo could substitute "The US Federal Government" for "The EU" without changing a word of his speech. Which means it's disingenuous and dishonest at its core.
55
@sbrooks Separatism is just the opposite side of nationalism on the same medal, I don't know who said this, but I believe there is a lot of truth to it.
Destroying the United States, isn't that what Steve Bannon has pro-claimed as his agenda?
Of course, the strong international ties of the US have been one of the pillars of its global dominance. Destroy the ties to the allies and friends, and see how an isolated US falls. MAGA should get an award for the most cynical slogan of the millennium.
7
The U.N. has been controlled by the USA, how is possible now that some American politicians wants to eliminate it? Possibly, in the light of the fact the U.N. has become more independent from USA influences? Bolton shouldn’t have such a strong demands regarding the EU. He is not European, he doesn’t live there, he is not part of its governance.
24
It would indeed be easier to retreat into isolationism and to get away with bad behavior on the world stage if there were no international bodies. Obviously that's what this administration wants, no surprise there.
41
I question the value of Mike Pompeo. Daily.
121
Before George H. W. Bush is even laid to rest, the Administration attacks the very multinational order, and institution, that allowed him to assemble the most successful military mission of my 65-year lifetime. Had we followed the Desert Storm example in 2001, we most likely would not find ourselves in our current quagmire some 17 years later.
34
The World Wars were the direct outcome of the kind of nationalistic self centeredness that Trump thinks is so much better than dealing with all those annoying allies and little states. Those cooperative organizations enable nations to settle disputes short of using trade wars and military actions to impose their wills.
What good is a world order that facilitates peaceful relations and requires big nations to deal with a lot of annoying partner nations? Ask the marines and navy sailors who fought in the Pacific in World War II. Ask the army soldiers who assaulted the Normandy and fought across Northern Europe, and up the Italian peninsula. Ask the Soviet armies who fought across a thousand miles of Eurasia and died in millions. Trump plays games whose stakes he never understood and Bolton and Pompeo are just jerks because they know the history but ignore it.
54
Instead of eliminating the U.N. and the E.U. why don't we just eliminate the Trump administration?
207
Pompeo calls Brexit a “wake up call”?
Huh?
“Wake up” to exactly what?
The ill conceived, deeply unpopular Brexit is what can, and does, happen when regular people don’t take their voting franchise seriously and stay home on the sofa rather then go to the polls.
We had a similar “wake up” in 2016 (albeit not by a popular margin) and have, by any calculation, and as evidenced with historic mid term shift, most certainly decided to get off our collective sofa.
(Ps - has Pompeo talked to anyone in Northern Ireland or Scotland lately?)
44
"Pompeo Questions the Value of International Groups Like U.N. and E.U."?
Pompeo shows what an arrogant, know-nothing fool he is -- no doubt taking the cue from Mustachio Bolton, who merely alienated the world as UN Ambassador, self-styled know-it-all, and now National "Security" advisor for trashing institutions like UN and international cooperation.
What do arrogant ignoramuses like Pompeo, Bolton, and Trump think will replace international cooperation, however flawed it may be in practice? Brute force? A Hobbesian world of "all against all"?
And WHO do they think will want to be a friend or ally of the US at this point? They've trashed, insulted, and alienated all our former "friends" and allies.
We're left with the likes of Putin, Duarte, Netanyahu, and a murderous Saudi princeling. Now, those are "friends" we can really rely on!
90
On one level Pompeo's statement is shocking in its stupidity and arrogance. The EU has unified a continent that in the last century alone has seen many millions killed in war and genocide. The UN has benefited the world and the US in countless ways, few of which the US wants to hear about.
His complaint about "bureaucrats" not helping the people they are meant to serve is badly misdirected. The vast disparities of wealth that have only made the rich richer since the 1980s -- and have now led to bitterly disenfranchised masses voting for the empty promises of populist saviors -- lie not at the feet of government bureaucrats, but in the hands of politicians who enacted the neoliberal policies the world has had rammed down its throat for the last four decades.
Pompeo should be grateful for this horrible state of affairs, because it's the only way a disingenuous blowhard like himself could actually end up becoming Secretary of State.
On another level, his comments are nothing new at all. The list of international treaties the US has refused (alone or in very bad company) to ratify -- bedrock conventions on human rights, laws of war, etc, etc -- is too long to list here. Look it up for yourself and let your jaw drop to the floor.
55
“This is the reality which President Trump so viscerally understands.” The joke is on Trump who recently tweeted:”... I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.” Case closed for the liberal world order, because one gut tells one old man, it ain’t good. Pompeo clearly knows better. What is his incentive to embarrass himself with lies and falsehoods in front of a knowledgeable audience?
33
Mr. President:
You don't know diddly-squat!
You are ruining everything you touch, and will be the ruination of the USA if you continue to do so! I'd ask you to think before you act, but that is beyond your capabilities.
35
I'm guessing here, but is Pompeo offering to do the eliminating of "unhelpful institutions" such as the UN and the EU for the rest of us. I can see that he and Trump think that the UN isn't working because it doesn't always do what the US tells it to do.
But where do senior members of the Trump administration - including Trump - get the impression that they get to decide whether and how the EU operates?
248
@Philippa Sutton "Senior members" seems like such a contradiction in terms, a misnomer.
4
@Philippa Sutton Thank you. The EU is not a concubine of Mr. Trump or a vassal of the United States. I wonder if the current administration recalls the effect of nationalism in Europe related to WWI and WWII? Apparently not.
11
@Philippa Sutton Authoritarians need a war to show their macho power ,Enter Trump the first American dictator
9
There is no doubt that both the EU and UN are in dire need of reform. Anything that could streamline and improve these international bodies is welcome for sure. But only someone who doesn't understand international relations, with a dimwitted view of geopolitics, would make such ignorant and careless statements as Mike Pompeo did. The fact that he is the Secretary Of State is even more eye opening and worrisome.
297
@loco73 The inordinate corporate influence over US policy, the gerrymandering of House districts, the executive who daily interferes with ongoing investigations and court cases and the politicisation of the US judiciary are just some examples of why US democracy is far more in need of reform than the EU.
What is it about the EU that is in dire need of reform? The fact that 27 countries operate so well together, despite such cultural and linguistic diversity, is what is astounding. The EU is extremely democratic, even if most Americans don't understand how it works.
49
@loco73 Too many comments and commenters say that the UN and EU need to be reformed, but none of the comments or commenters point out the issues in these bodies or what form the fixes should take.
Is it because these commenters too aren't learned in the ways these bodies work and lazely opine they are dysfunctional because they are large, constituting of many elements and so it's not easy to grasp all the tasks performed by them?
10
As a German I am grateful for the allies' intervention in WW II, saving us from Hitler, building international institutions that cared about stability and checks and balances and generally treating us leniently aftwards. I hope we will not be forced to return the favor in the foreseeable future. Yes, it could be getting that bad, I believe.
249
@Sebastian - Thank you Sebastion. I share your concerns and hope that the new congress will be able to extinguish or contain the many fires trump has started - yet Pompeo, Bolton and McConnell keep handing him matches.
33
@Sebastian
Oh Sebastian, I hope it doesn't. But thank you in advance if we end up there.
2020 cannot come soon enough.
30
@Sebastian
Thanks for understanding that the EU is the culmination of George Marshall's dream of making war too expensive. Most of the posters here have no concern about the horrible price that Europe and eventually all of us paid for WWI&II and how the UN and the Marshall plan have worked to prevent such calamities. May we never again see the chain of events that led from the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and the sequelae of both world wars.
28
‘when America leads, peace and prosperity follow’
Invoking this leadership sounds hollow and terrifying coming from the likes of Mr. Pompeo. Personally, it is a disillusion. And saddening. This after decades of defending US motives if not always US actions. Now, where is the trust and moral capital gained at desperate cost in and post World War II? It seems spent.
9
Pompous pompeo. So trump appropriate. A bloated bumbler without a clue.
42
The guy is a clown, like his boss. I sincerely feel for America and my good American friends who find themselves represented by such people...
81
Wrong. djm
2
Pompeo is an incompetent and wholly unsuited for his post, as is his boss.
22
Pompeo, Bolton and Trump, do Americans a solid and become North Korean citizens. Perfect country for you 3 to continue your running amok agenda against the world. Take Mitch, Graham and the Holy Spirit Pence along for good measure!
33
...and this guy actually graduated first in his class at West Point?
16
@Sue O
He's become an evangelical fanatic waiting for the end times, or perhaps helping to bring them about.
3
@Sue O wp is not ivy
2
I question the value of Pompeo to this country, after regurgitating bald-faced lies about the Kashoogi killing to the U.S. Senate.
35
“President Trump knows that when America leads, peace and prosperity follow,” Pompous Pompeo added.
Tell that to the people who live in Iraq and Afghanistan. Laughable — unless you replace “peace” with “endless war” and “prosperity” with “death and rubble”.
39
Somehow whatever trump and his clowns criticize becomes even more important and worthy of support, because it’s clear they do it out of stupidity or outright treasonous reasons...
13
Now-let's review the process for removal of a Secretary of State. And is there a way to outlaw the GOP.
29
Clearly, the Trumps and Pompaos of the world will not rest until they've effectively undermined all international platforms for mutual exchange. Every-man-for-himself-may-the-devil-take-the-hindmost seems their reflexive response to most every challenge. In two years Trump and his henchmen have managed to toxify the very ground of any potential cooperative negotiation between ourselves and other nation states. Oh please, let us be rid of these empty vessels... soon.
17
Well it looks like Putin has added another member of the Trump Administration to his gaggle of compromised Officials! The ideals (if you can call them that) in his speech are right out of the Russian play book. The demise of these organizations only helps Russian interests. Its amazing how Trump can completely corrupt members of his administration so easily.
40
Though brief, the exchange between our "president" and Putin in Buenos Aires was still fruitful. Thus...
Because nothing would please Putin and serve his goal toward the resurrection of Imperial Russia and its Soviet Era world power more than a dis-unified Europe, Africa and Americas, and the absence of the United Nations.
15
Of course he didn’t take questions. This isn’t a collaboration.
12
"Pompeo is also delusional! He says that when America leads "peace and prosperity follow". America is not leading- we are retreating from the world order.It follows then that there will not be peace and prosperity.Trump and Bolton and Pompeo have worked hard on their nationalist agenda and the world is suffering from the lack of our democratic guidance.It is destabilizing and frightening to have the United States abdicate our leadership in the world.
21
We are under attack by a group of usurpers who do not share our values.
In Washington. In Wisconsin. In North Carolina.
I fear for our Democracy.
25
I am deeply concerned that THREE of your journalists describe the EU as an international "group". I was hoping to find a quote from mr. Pompeo to this effect in the article; there is none. So for future reference the EU is a supranational organization, and not a "group" of some countries!!!
9
The GOP and this fraud of an administration does not speak for the people of this land. They have info warred, gerrymandered and suppressed the will of the citizenry.
NATO and the EU are the backbone of peace in our world.
16
M. Pompeo is right, I can see split to face of UE, it will totally accepted by the countries which belongs to EU.
Poland chose American military helicopters with EU money because they don't trust EU. Belgium chose F15 because the flamish nationalists who lead the country hate all that is french.
I can bet that Germany won't chose Rafale next year, after that EU accepted to negotiate without withdraw of steel taxes, (Germany which lead EU showed us it's total lack of solidarity, and knee to avoid car taxes).
The Shame on us, European citizen, and of course Pompeo is right, he knows that in 6 months the only EU country able to make war will be France.
All the others will prey for American military intervention in case of an extremely improbable Russian agression.
EU is a giant without army, it is a fact.
Pompeo could even insult Merkel, Germany will by F15.
We, as Europe, are not able to use Euro as international money, are not able to act as adults, unable to defend by ourselves and Pompeo vient de siffler la fin de la récréation. Vae vicitis, poor EU.
... and maybe I, as a European, may share with mr. Pompeo my opinion about the United States of America... may I ask him if Capitol Hill really serves the interests of California and its people? And shouldn't that state, together with several others, also be emtitled to exercise its own souvereignity?
15
International "groups." How about organizations? These are not groups. And so disappointed to see Mike Pompeo, a graduate of West Point (first in his class?) advance this garbage political philosophy if you can call it that.
14
@New reader Pompeo was first in his class at West Point? Wow. I sure would hate to see the rest of that class.
6
Putin in the background pulling strings or using a fool like Pompeo. This opens the EU to Russian meddling. Pompeo needs to go, asap.
24
“President Trump knows that when America leads, peace and prosperity follow,” he added."
Just like during the financial crisis of 2008.
Oh wait.
5
Once again to my favorite quote: "against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain" (Friedrich Schiller). And it really is relevant, for I cannot believe that someone like Pompeo is ignorant. Trump? Absolutely. Pompeo, and others around him, not ignorant, just stupid. They appear to me most simply as fools bent on bolstering their own images and self-importance. And to think they grew up in an environment made stable, safe and prosperous by these very institutions that they denigrate. But really what is at work here is little more than "American exceptionalism". Achieving goals means working with others which requires compromise. Are these institutions perfect? Well, nearly so, if you account for every nation, for all of history, had their own interests at heart.
And one other point...the USA is itself a federation of quasi-independent "states". Is this working so well? Do Trump and his minions figure to dissolve this union of states as well? I'm not so sure.
7
where are the men in the white coats when you need them ??
19
“It’s not popular to buck the status quo,” Mr. Pompeo said. “But too much is at stake not to. This is the reality which President Trump so viscerally understands.”
Trump understands nothing. Bucking the status quo is his modus operandi but having a logical replacement for the status quo is sadly missing.
Although Pompeo tried to explain what Trump can't, he summed it up by saying: “President Trump knows that when America leads, peace and prosperity follow.” Unfortunately the only one that is not fully on board is Trump himself.
13
The United States of America shows that union, acting as a group, acting in aid of each other, for each other, an alliance of equals, is what makes the US strong.
Not telling states to watch after themselves, do it all on their own, every state for itself.
Of course, alliances and unions and coalitions are much stronger together against enemies, vicissitudes, disasters, invasions, raids,, and all manner of financial pillaging than separately..
Duh.
Nations and groups that want to believe that they can save themselves by locking themselves in, locking themselves out of the world are ripe for the plucking. An invitation to any foreign imperialist or any coalition of raiders.
Usually, they are so deluded they don't even see how weak and wide open they are, especially if they are resting on laurels earned when they took part in the world, formed alliances and forged treaties.
1
Pompeo seems to have gotten his tense wrong. Where America LED, peace and prosperity FOLLOWED. That was then - but no longer. Trump is leading into a dark and dangerous place.
14
Yup, that's one way to avoid a confrontation with one' personal financial backers. Having a treaty is not something to have only when everyone honors the terms, and then to pull out when one big offender is the source of the president's financial backing, so he will do everything and anything, at all cost, to avoid supporting a conflict. Pompeo is simply a complicit mouthpiece for Trump and his personal interests. There is no national or international concern regarding Russia and Putin, only personal debt.
3
I marvel that the Secretary of State seems to think this indiscriminate and unsubstantiated scolding will convince a soul. The public records of the institutions he takes to task contradict his statements at every turn. Fortunately we have already learned that the Trump administration can offer only one reason for any of its actions: because that is what 45 wants. I live in hopes that the world will be encouraged--and our own Congress buffaloed--by the rising chorus of opposition here at home and the advance of legal efforts to expunge this scourge.
3
Pompeo has no business being in the State Department, not even to sweep the floor.
20
Some people will go to any length to please their boss and Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State in the office that leads our country in diplomacy just demeaned his office and the United States.
By attacking the UN and EU, both of which the United States encouraged their formation coming out of WWII, is a cheap national tribute to Trump.
Pompeo is young enough to look for future work in our government long after Trump leaves the scene and hopefully, the American people won’t forget what he said about these organizations in the diplomatic office that he leads.
9
You don't have to be a genius to know that the more Trump disassembles the world order the more unsafe we become. This should be writing on the wall to Trump supports, prepare for Strong Man governing, the kind demonstrated by Trump's closest friends.
7
Trump talks a good game,if he feels the UN or Nato are irrelevant pull the US out,it ain't gonna happen. So much winning.
Good one, Mike, keep up the good work. Let's return to a world where nation states roam the world and only use nationalism to justify their actions. War is really a better way to get things done, as it ensures that a country gets exactly what they want and can take, and there really is no down side. Anyone who doubts this plan just needs to remember that the United States, the greatest economy in the world, and a world leader (until recently, that is) in good government, is actually a victim. The proof? Everyone is laughing at us. Look at all these awful, terrible, disgraceful agreements that this great country has entered into over the past 75 years! The proof is in the pudding.
2
Pompeo has to go.
First, he says he doesn't have proof on Kashoggi's killing, while the U.S. Senate says there is definitive proof.
Now, he says we don't need the U.N. or the E.U. while a WWII Vet President lies in state - and the post WWII world he build - is threatened.
13
I question the value of Pompeo's opinion on anything. There is not one individual in the Trump administration that should be believed or trusted.
14
Certainly the UN does not represent the 21st century world.
Perhaps a reformed UN with the UK and France removed from the Security Council will be a step in the right direction.
3
I think Pompeo should be revised or eliminated. This is the most history ignorant and intellectually disinterested administration in American history. Such stupidity and hubris should not go unpunished.
274
"Mr. David Fouquet said. “Although he professes to want to strengthen [these institutions], I think he is undermining them.”"
Pompeo wants to strengthen the UN and EU in the same way Republicans want to "strengthen" Social Security and Medicare, that is, eliminate them or make them unpopular. Or the way Bush II tried to "strengthen" the Clean Air Act with the "Clear Skies Initiative," which made it easier for industries to pollute more. Always use quote marks around "strengthen" when the term is used by Republicans. They use it in different ways than the rest of us.
64
Some powerful people refuse to do their job and insist on destroying everything, including old and important alliances and institutions that have served us well for decades.
Those people should either resign or be impeached and removed from office.
67
I question the value of Mike Pompeo. Seriously.
453
@Dances with Cows- That is a mild statement. Rather I fear the harm that Pompeo is doing emphasizing that the United States is not a reliable partner from administration to administration in ANY treaty. The table of world order as we know it is being upturned. WE will not be taken for granted anymore as (mainly) trusted force for good (at least in intentions) in the world willing to work with other basically like-minded nations. This is disastrous.
6
Pompeo is not fit to wash the feet of all the good men and women who built the international institutions and relationships that have given the people of the Earth relative Peace since the end of WWII.
In breaking with these organizations and alliances Trump and his ignorant and arrogant followers will destroy what so many others have built.
UN, EU, NATO, UN, UNESCO, Paris Accord, NAFTA, OAS, SEATO, WTO, World Bank, Interpol, TPP, Export-Import Bank, etc.
277
@JMT
I do not think that the "relative peace" since WW2 has much to do with international organizations, nor am I sure that there has been "relative peace". The threat of nuclear war, the fall of empires, and the rise in urban and terror wars may have been major reasons that no classical world war on battlefields has occurred. There certainly have been innumerable regional wars, and hundreds of thousands of people have been killed.
Mr. Pompeo is neither ignorant nor arrogant.
It is about time that the enormous hypocrisies of expensive, often useless, institutions such as many UN agencies are confronted and improved.
There also has to be a better way to deal with bad actors such as Iran, and a balanced respect for individual national needs, a sore point with the EU.
3
@JMT
Thank you for your strong statement. I'm still reeling of what has been done by ill-equipped Republicans at the Commerce Dept.Trump is insane to think that the US is so great that we can do totally stupid things and not pay a price. China is busy making friends around the world with offers of infrastructure. America is in the hands of ignorant people, many in the military who think our might makes right, who even mention nuclear strength.They love war and selling military weapons to make billions. Who will save us? Voters??
20
@eve ben-levi- What specifically would you expect to see happen once all these institutions are dismantled? Not having global wars is a major accomplishment, although I agree that millions have died in all the other conflicts. But I think without some of these institutions, the toll may have been much higher. And finally, are you really serious labeling Iran as a bad actor now: Iran, the country we originally sided with and supported with the Shah and against Iraq? You seem to ignore the fact that our enemies often become our friends and vice versa, when given enough time. One of the only constants has been the long friendships with other democracies like the UK, Germany, Japan, France, etc. Much of the rest of the world has been against us at various times.
So how do you propose dealing with those bad actors, when they constantly change?
10
Pompeo drank the Kool-Aid. Here we go, down the slide to isolationism, cutting the US off from friend and foe.
Along with Mike's slobbering denial of MBS involvement in the slaying of Khashoggi, he is earning his stripes as Trump's water boy by jumping on the USA-Alone bandwagon.
Pompeo, Bolton and Mattis have lost their backbones and grovel at the feet of Trump. What power does Trump have to turn grown men into pitiful puppets?
142
Dear Europe and the World. Hang in there; these fools will be gone come 2020. The vast majority of Americans believe in multinationalism, climate change, decency, etc. Trump and his fools will be jettisoned come November, 2020.
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@Frank, unfortunately they won't. Or they will be replaced by someone equally evil. Face it, 30-40% of your population supports these people. Europe has just gotten there a few years earlier and due to its multiparty system is someone less extreme (no automatic 'you are with us or against us' if you can actually vote for multiple parties).
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@Frank
Not if Hillary enters the race. There are rumours she may enter the democratic race for 2020!
4
I hope so Frank, I hope so
9
Is there any more need for evidence that this administration is in the pocket of Putin?
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“under President Trump, we are not abandoning international leadership or our friends in the international system. Indeed, quite the contrary.”
What Mike Pompous, another genius from Kansas, doesn't mention, is that under Traitor Trump, "our friends" have abandoned us.
53
This complete idiocy of Mr. Pompeo's remarks reflects the entire Republican party's complete amnesia as to why these important institutions exist. This is Tea Party foreign policy at its worse.
The EU, NATO, the world bank, and all other international institutions arose from two world wars in which millions died both at home and on the battlefield. 6 million Jews were murdered. To hear this ingrate speak, one can hear the cries of the millions dead. The Marshall Plan not only saved European democracy but also ours by shoring up Europe against the Soviets. How can these people forget these facts?
But wait, the Republicans have always been the party of isolation. There is a scene in Best Years of Our Lives where a man tells the WWII veteran who lost his arms in the war that it was all a conspiracy and we never should have gone to war. It is shocking but that's a Republican for you.
Ike learned the lesson but it is doubtful any current Republican will until it inevitably happens all over again.
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@Mike
Just add up what these organizations have not solved -- and did create. The problem Mike .... is they don't work. The Marshall plan did work -- it was the USA. We rebuilt Japan as well. NATO is important as Pompeo pointed out ... although the expansion has been misguided.
The World Bank and IMF -- do some reading ... see who benefits and who pays the bill.
If, as Pompeo laughingly claims, the Trump administration is so concerned about "security and values of the free world" why does Trump spend so much time smooching dictator derrieres and denigrating leaders of historic democratic allies?
Utter nonsense!
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Mike Pompeo, a man who doesn’t know his own limitations, does not represent the views of America. Sec Pompeo represents only the interests of evolutionary deadenders like him and his boss.
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Considering EU membership pertains to the constitutional identity of each of its members states, remarks such as these really mean a form of international hostility. Therefore, and unless he retracts himself, Mr. Pompeo should be declared persona non grata in the European Union.
Not to mention the fact that this amounts to interference in the upcoming election to the EU Parliament. Violating the most basic international standards of behavior, Mr. Pompeo’s remarks really mean an endorsement of the anti-EU platform of far right parties.
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@Rodrigo
I'd like to give you a 100 "Recommended" for this! Indeed that's interfering with the EU elections!
Question why? Because weakening the EU simply makes the US stronger? Or is there even more behind (thinking about Billionaires' illegal contributions to AfD in Germany)?
I'm sooo frightened how this turns out.
16
As a fellow EU citizen, I could not agree more with you. I feel exactly the same way. It is clear that not only the Trump administration, but indeed most of the American Public are completely ignorant of what the EU is and how it works. They are directly attacking our political system, which guarantees our basic liberties. I don't think they even know those "Brussels bureaucrats" they are so fond of criticizing are indeed democratically elected.
Allies? Not anymore. Not when they are set on destroying our union and political system. If anything, I'd rather deal and talk directly with Putin than do so through his delivery boys.
As for those who say this is a glitch and to wait until 2020, Congress is passively backing everything this administration is doing. It's the whole GOP, not just this POTUS, as demonstrated by Mr. Pompeo; and half of your political establishment won't go away after 2020. Europe just needs to distance itself from the U.S.as fast as possible. They are simply not reliable or even minimally friendly partners anymore.
2
Boycott the US, do it quietly, no fanfare. Tell US tourists that they are not welcome. Expel all US military from Europe.
The same question can be asked of the "United States". Why should my tax dollars be going to support southern states that have been on the receiving end of more spending than tax contributions for many years? The reason is that we are all Americans and we try to help the less fortunate.
Unfortunately those in this administration haven't even the faintest clue about history and how nationalism led to two world wars in which hundreds of thousands of Americans gave their lives (and millions worldwide died). Maybe this utter ignorance underlies Trump's unwillingness to visit the cemeteries in France where thousands of American veterans are buried due to a few rain drops.
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@Matt J., Yes, our tax dollars go not only to support the less fortunate but also the ignorant.
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@Matt J.
Nationalism started the world wars, but it was international relationships and institutions that made them “world” conflicts.
3
Agreed, except for that part about helping the less fortunate. Some of those southern states might shape up if the lib states stop keeping them afloat.
5
Really, send Secretary P back in time to after the war when the UN was founded and I bet he has a different story. Trump and his team are determined to crash the party and hand the U.S. over to Putin. As khrushchev once said, our grandchildren will live under communism. Without the UN it's probably true.
21
Pompeo is either another groveling Trump syncophant with political ambitions who hopes by embracing the President's foreign policy of spurning our allies his master will spare him a kind word later...
OR
Another unscrupulous Republican so hungry for power he is willing to do the bidding of our foreign adversaries in hopes they use troll farms to give his campaign momentum when he runs for office.
This has been the current trend with Republicans who have placed corporate profit and power over the common good of the American people. They will continue to run a protection racket for corruption of the highest office, and insult our allies in favor of authoritarian regimes willing to use perfidious tactics to boost their election campaigns.
36
Pompeo's right, of course.
The UN and EU are terribly outdated institutions that exist mostly to provide their bureaucrats with outlandishly comfortable lives.
And do little or nothing to advance peace or global harmony.
3
@Rolf
If that's irony, I'd laugh. Otherwise you possibly missed the USA under Trump?
2
@Rolf
Sarcasm, right? Or a Pompeo/Trump lackey?
2
Speeches like this belie a complete, fundamental lack of historical perspective. We do not have to agree with everything that other countries do, but we do have to work with them because it is in our own national interest to do so in a globally interconnected environment. And organizations like the EU and the UN, flawed as they are, create that opportunity. We have not had a major war since WWII - what more proof does one need that there is value in those organizations?
My guess is that Pompeo either just wants all war, all of the time, or he is just mouthing what Trump dreams up. The first is typical right wing ideology; the second is typical Trumpism. Both are equally dangerous.
The greatest generation worked hard with our partners to establish these organizations, along with the normative behavior that went along with a rules based society. They did it, not because they wanted to attend another meeting with people that they hardly knew. They did it both because they knew the horrors of war, and because the benefits accrued to America. We did it because we were better off; it is that simple.
Pompeo is obviously the wrong guy for the job (like most of Trump's staff). A little advice, Mike: either try to make the world a better place or keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool, rather than open it (like your boss) and remove all doubt.
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@PB
Thoughtful comments. I would note that most of the global institutions and agreements, from the UN to the WTO, should have been updated long ago. The basic structures were designed for post-war security and economic growth, which they accomplished. By succeeding, the U.S. now has a very different competitive relationship to the EU, China, etc. and the agreements should be updated to reflect this reality. If only this had been accomplished under prior administrations.
1
“When treaties are broken, the violators must be confronted, and the treaties must be fixed or discarded,” Mr. Pompeo said”
Well there was the Iran Nuclear Agreement, though not a treaty, it was broken, but there was no violation by Iran. The U.S. under President Trump didn’t like it, so let’s just walk away from it. It’s hard to come up with a rationale when the only real reason was, it happened on President Obama’s watch.
“After the short speech, Mr. Pompeo took no questions.”
I can fully understand. There are no good responses to questions that the diplomatic wishy-washy, double speak the Secretary of State could provide.
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@cherrylog754\
The present Administration walked away from a one-sided deal which consisted of payoffs for no benefits to Iranians and the outside world. Iran, lying about its nuclear program, has violated the terms and the intent of the non-deal. It has not permitted inspections of any place it labels a "military site', has sponsored regional and worldwide terror, is developing missiles in defiance of the UNSC, and has impoverished the Iranian people.
@cherrylog754
No Senate ratification so it was only between the Obama administration and Iran. No treaty. No legal basis.
1
@eve ben-levi
yeah was it Iranian or Saudis that blew up NY?
6
The UN may have failed in many ways, but aspects of it remain useful. But to say that the EU failed is to misunderstand the fragile nature of Europe post WW2 and the robust prosperity since it established its own trade zone.
62
To walk through the United Nations building is to be reminded that we once had high minded leaders who knew that while attempts to create peace and care for the planet's most vulnerable would be difficult, they weren't cynical. They knew it was important to try. They valued dedication and expertise.
If you aren't going to try to attempt some good and institutionalize the efforts, what do you have? A planet run by money-hungry oligarchs like Putin and Trump. Since they won't lead, they want to tear it all down.
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@paula
Eleanor Roosevelt is surely rolling in her grave over what has become of much of the UN. It had high aspirations, but, among things, does not clarify and enforce universal standards of justice.
It is incorrect to put the autocratic leader of Russia, which does not carry Western values, in the same category with the duly elected President of the US.
Mr. Trump and his crew are leading, just not down the hypocritical paths which seem to have become articles of faith to many.
3
@eve ben-levi
Unbelievable. No, seriously. Unbelievable. Can't believe you live in the same country as the rest of us. Did you see the election in November? With any luck, "Mr. Trump and his crew" will be scrubbing toilets in Guantanamo next year if the majority of the real America get to vote. That is if Don's BFF in Moscow keeps his hands off the election. Your "autocratic leader of Russia" is Don's hero. How can you possibly reconcile that in your head? You should be frothing through your ears.
8
@eve ben-levi
Trump's is a path we don't want to go down if we think clearly about our recent history of failed middle east wars. And we are not libertarians like Bannon and Pompeo.
No, we want to take care of our people with unions and a social safety net and education for all.
Yeah, like they do in Europe.
1
"The answer, he said, is to jettison some treaties and institutions while bolstering others. Among the institutions that Mr. Pompeo criticized were the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of American States and the African Union,"
How does a country "jettison" an institution, such as the EU, that it is not a member of?
137
@Bob Rossi Well, the US ambassador to Germany announced that the US administration will see to support far-right populist movements across Europe. He said this even before arriving at his new job in Berlin. Steve Bannon said exactly the same in Europe.
These movements have been fostered and supported by the same elements that promoted Brexit and Trump. This happens in broad day light. It is quite fascinating that Trump fans can be so enthusiastic about the most ridiculous conspiracy theories, but at the same time failing to see what is actually going on in front of their eyes.
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@Ani
The reason that can't see this is because they are programmed by fox news which is controlled by the rich far right. Critical thinking is beyond most of them.
9
@Bob Rossi
"How does a country jettison an institution such as EU that it is not a member of?"
What do you think Bannon is doing?
1