Donald Trump is a con man. One of the best descriptions of him was included in the column written by Maureen O'Dowd on March 5 "Chickens Come Home to Roost." She used a quote from Maria Konnikova, author of “The Confidence Game,” which explained that "Con men are created by the yearning of their marks to believe in something that gives life meaning. … Their genius lies in figuring out what, precisely, it is we want, and how they can present themselves as the perfect vehicle for delivering on that desire.” Let's hope we don't get conned in November!
6
March 29 2016
Extreme narcissistic personality disorder - Donald Trump would pass a GI military examination and he unfit for the mature responsible world that guides our American culture. Having to serve in the White House is over his pay grade and the press should serve notice that uncivilized behavior is now full documented. His best advice is to seek work in the reality affairs and not in cultivating the ethics and honor for our great nation as one people united by rules of law and civility in politics at all levels.
jja Manhattan, N. Y.
Extreme narcissistic personality disorder - Donald Trump would pass a GI military examination and he unfit for the mature responsible world that guides our American culture. Having to serve in the White House is over his pay grade and the press should serve notice that uncivilized behavior is now full documented. His best advice is to seek work in the reality affairs and not in cultivating the ethics and honor for our great nation as one people united by rules of law and civility in politics at all levels.
jja Manhattan, N. Y.
4
Perhaps it actually is time to rethink the post World War Two and Cold War order. We are no longer capable of or willing to support all of the defense commitments we have made.
11
what i find curious is, while most people are utterly astonished at Mr. Trump's absurd and ill-considered world view, some point to existing minor problems with the current arrangement as evidence that Trump is right on everything.
I knew voters were fickle, but i wasn't aware so many are so easily duped.
I knew voters were fickle, but i wasn't aware so many are so easily duped.
2
This is good piece followed by some amazing comments. Trump is a disaster, but part of his underlying critique is sound. The US has more re-balancing, more retreating to do, so that our allies can help pay for the world order we have been funding. I would add to the excellent discussion the point of Andrew Grove of Intel, we need a more job centric ecomomic policy and trade policy. He has a great argument for a new Scaling Bank, from his article in Bussinessweek in 2010 referenced in his piece in the NYTimes last week. Once we come up with a new widget, we need to apply tools and investment to manufacture the item here. We need manufacturing to remain competitive on so many levels. If we do not rebuild the middle class, why bother with the expensive foreign policy that is just for the 1%.
David blogs at OnVietnamAndtheWorld.Wordpress.com
David blogs at OnVietnamAndtheWorld.Wordpress.com
3
What foreign policy? Trump does not have a foreign policy beyond sound bites he utters to invigorate his followers. His foreign policy shifts depending on which way the wind is blowing and what day of the week it is. Why would anyone him want him anywhere near the nuclear codes?
2
FDR/Alf Landon 1936, current record holder for biggest modern presidential landslide; we'll see if, once the great bulk of real American voters finally get in the loop (vs, um, the primary/caucus folks...), if this beats it. Hillary, that is.
This whole "Out Sider" affection sounds good on paper. What America and the World need is a President that understands world affairs. That Words Do matter in the world of Deplomacy. Donald Trump only uses the word I never we. America better see the writing on the wall Donald has always been for The Donald and Now he's going to be for America?
1
Bravado, bluster, bombast... more of the authoritarian archetype: plenty of similarities to Kim Jong-un's behaviors, n'est pas ?
1
Just goes to show you don't have to be smart to be rich. This whole notion that somehow business people are the best suited to run the country is just another corporate/republican myth that Mr. Trump is shattering.
15
Trump may well be the greatest danger the US has faced since Aaron Burr. But given a choice of Clinton+Sanders or Trump+X, the short-sighted voters may go for the latter, even when the former are equally bad for different reasons.
I think it must be part of Mr Cohen's remit to prevent fixing NATOs payment scheme. What happens to MR Cohen if the United States stops paying for Europe's defense? Does he get a new assignment?
7
I find it hilarious and hypocritical that news pundits berated Trump for his admission to Chuck Todd that he gets much of his foreign policy information from TV news. Essentially they are criticizing Trump because he gets his news from them..? As long as their news is the hard hitting, fact finding, honest and intelligent reporting they are always patting themselves on the back for- then what's the problem?
8
One thing with Trump is that he could help the climate - use the hot air he produces to generate clean energy!
6
I was on the fence about Trump. last night I watched a 30 for 30 on ESPN. The subject was the USFL. Trump's petulance, ego, and bullying are clearly on display. He destroyed a league that had a chance if it did not try to directly compete with the NFL. I had a moment of clarity. He would destroy this country. Goodbye Mr Trump. But keep building those great golf courses.
10
Well, Trump is a wacko bird. But he did get it right about Dubya not "keeping us safe." And I have to say the reference to "Pax Americana" is a bit grating. We haven't been all that "pax-ful," I'm afraid.
8
Worst of all, he won't simply be on Bibi's leash. That is what Cohen doesn't like
13
For better or worse, Trump probably won't be on anyone's leash. Obama is definitely not on Bibi's leash, nor was Clinton. Watch an interesting Frontline documentary on Bibi and you will see the conflict he has had historically with US leaders. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/netanyahu-at-war/
2
Trump, like others who care less about world politics, has consistently exposed the reckless foreign policy that America would embark on were he to be elected president. I once thought that men like him are well read about the world that we live in.
3
Trash NATO, weaponize Japan, send Saudi Arabia a bill.
Trump would operate our country’s executive agencies and armed forces as if our government were a business like his property and hotel/food/whiskey companies. Sell government services abroad for a profit. As if modern warfare is a service to be pitched to not just needy, but ready, global buyers.
Donald is spouting the republican “big lie” when he says “… we were not smartly led,” and America was “systematically ripped off by everybody. From China to Japan to South Korea to the Middle East …”
Does he have any kind of clear picture of where each of those countries stands inside their own borders, socially and economically, and defensively outside their borders?
Trump would operate our country’s executive agencies and armed forces as if our government were a business like his property and hotel/food/whiskey companies. Sell government services abroad for a profit. As if modern warfare is a service to be pitched to not just needy, but ready, global buyers.
Donald is spouting the republican “big lie” when he says “… we were not smartly led,” and America was “systematically ripped off by everybody. From China to Japan to South Korea to the Middle East …”
Does he have any kind of clear picture of where each of those countries stands inside their own borders, socially and economically, and defensively outside their borders?
6
"...unless, of course, he [Trump] changed his mind to demonstrate the unpredictability he prizes."
Which, of course, he would.
A deep breath is probably in order, Roger.
Which, of course, he would.
A deep breath is probably in order, Roger.
2
I'm running out of deep breaths.
The Republican Party shares most of the blame for the emergence of Donald Trump as a "viable" presidential candidate. A 40 year obsession with abortion rights and religious rights, at the expense of rational national economic policies, has sliced and diced the Republican electorate, and led to the emergence of a fringe candidate, like Mr. Trump, who had no business getting past the first round of the primary season.
8
"But his version of “America First” — which interestingly converges with the views of many on the left...." Stop, stop, stop blaming the "left" for your party's choice of nominee. Cohen still doesn't get that every idea not emerging from the GOP is "left" and inherently bad. Blind sided obstinance is destroying GOP credibility, even as the GOP leaders get caught displaying the type of fallibilities the GOP has tried to link exclusively to Democrats, like inappropriate sexual behavior. The GOP has encapsulated itself in an inflexible bubble and considers no solution from beyond its proprietary walls.
4
The term "loose cannon" is about a perfect a term as you can have for Trump.
3
Roger Cohen is obsolete. His views on NATO, an organization originated to wage ideological war with the Soviet Union, no longer have resonance. Estonia and Ukraine are spears pointed at the heart of Russia, and regardless of Putin's aggressiveness , it is not conceivable that the US, for example, would be accepting of a Canada in alliance with Russia.
Why is Cohen obsessed with Trump, when there is another candidate who believes that carpet bombing provides a solution to bad behaviour and who also has ideas about immigration that involve the forcible relocation of upwards of 10 million people?
During the Cold War, and as part of the reconstitution of Europe and japan to offset communist electoral victories, the US allowed other countries to rebuild their economies in part by running large trade surpluses with the US. The reasons for this policy were political and strategic, not a result of application of the pure theory of international trade. In other words, it was a form of "foreign aid." Now the US trade deficit of $500 billion represents about .5 percent of GDP - each year. This is the equivalent of a 20% increase in forecast US growth rates, a not insubstantial sum.
It is time for Cohen and the other "commentators" to shed their ideological framework based on the world as it was and consider a way to learn how to analyse the world as it is now. Cohen understands that Trump is correct about the world of today as opposed to yesterday, but he is still "yesterday."
Why is Cohen obsessed with Trump, when there is another candidate who believes that carpet bombing provides a solution to bad behaviour and who also has ideas about immigration that involve the forcible relocation of upwards of 10 million people?
During the Cold War, and as part of the reconstitution of Europe and japan to offset communist electoral victories, the US allowed other countries to rebuild their economies in part by running large trade surpluses with the US. The reasons for this policy were political and strategic, not a result of application of the pure theory of international trade. In other words, it was a form of "foreign aid." Now the US trade deficit of $500 billion represents about .5 percent of GDP - each year. This is the equivalent of a 20% increase in forecast US growth rates, a not insubstantial sum.
It is time for Cohen and the other "commentators" to shed their ideological framework based on the world as it was and consider a way to learn how to analyse the world as it is now. Cohen understands that Trump is correct about the world of today as opposed to yesterday, but he is still "yesterday."
6
"War in Estonia or the East China Sea could end up being a very bad deal indeed, a real rip-off for all humanity."
There's a dangling paragraph. How so?
There's a dangling paragraph. How so?
I think this is a time for more voices to be heard. Rather than give Trump and his action hero approach to the world so much press, I challenge the media to find and report the points of view of wiser and more knowledgeable individuals even if they are not running for president. This the-sky-is-falling nonsense may sell a lot of newspapers, but this seems to be a time for seeking and listening to cool heads, experienced minds, and people with courage. Trump is scary, but only if he is the only voice being heard and listened to in these difficult times.
8
The elites don't get it (At least not a lot of it). We have lost much of the manufacturing superiority/capacity that made our legions stationed throughout the globe financially possible. We are no longer "Great" when compared to much of the developed world - they have caught up and some have passed us since 1945.
We have directly armed ideological enemies - The Theocracy in Saudi Arabia. And indirectly armed others through trade policies that benefit very few Americans- China's totalitarians.
The elite threw us into Vietnam and Iraq. Their reasoning terned out to be the moral equivalent of "The Big Lie".
Millions of Americans who can't afford it continue to pay the cost for this, but they don't write columns for newspapers.
We have directly armed ideological enemies - The Theocracy in Saudi Arabia. And indirectly armed others through trade policies that benefit very few Americans- China's totalitarians.
The elite threw us into Vietnam and Iraq. Their reasoning terned out to be the moral equivalent of "The Big Lie".
Millions of Americans who can't afford it continue to pay the cost for this, but they don't write columns for newspapers.
8
Donald Trump and his cheerleaders may shout America, America, America until they are blue in their faces, but let's face it: There will be no return to the old U.S.-dominated World Order. China, India, Japan, Southeast Asian nations, Russia, the European Community, Brazil, South Africa and many other nations have been up on the march. With all their internal problems, they are and will remain competing global forces to reckon with in one realm or another.
Whether it's Trump or someone else who comes to occupy the White House , the new U.S. President will need special navigational tools to negotiate an international path through this terrain. Any slogans to the contrary are delusional, and any Presidential behavior contrary to this truth will be reckless and dangerous.
On their part , those new centers of power already recognize how interdependent all parts of the globe have become, and for the most part, sensible people in the U.S. also see this as the plain and simple new truth.
Just say No to Trump!
Whether it's Trump or someone else who comes to occupy the White House , the new U.S. President will need special navigational tools to negotiate an international path through this terrain. Any slogans to the contrary are delusional, and any Presidential behavior contrary to this truth will be reckless and dangerous.
On their part , those new centers of power already recognize how interdependent all parts of the globe have become, and for the most part, sensible people in the U.S. also see this as the plain and simple new truth.
Just say No to Trump!
1
It would seem that Trump's main goal is to rip up the GOP play-book. He seems to be saying what a lot of the base wants to hear, and that includes a deep frustration with being the global enforcer. We have to look at the long-lasting scars of the Vietnam to Iraq era to understand that unlike the elite policy makers, average Americans saw brothers, fathers, husbands, sons ... and later daughters, wives, mothers, sisters ... thrown into the maw of "American security interests."
Now, don't get me wrong, I think Trump would be a total disaster in international relations. Most of what he suggests is naive at best, and dangerously foolish.
But he is tapping into a long and deep dissatisfaction that cannot be ignored, but rather needs sane policy responses. I regret that his GOP stable-mates don't seem to be scoring all that well in that regard.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think Trump would be a total disaster in international relations. Most of what he suggests is naive at best, and dangerously foolish.
But he is tapping into a long and deep dissatisfaction that cannot be ignored, but rather needs sane policy responses. I regret that his GOP stable-mates don't seem to be scoring all that well in that regard.
5
"But he is tapping into a long and deep dissatisfaction that cannot be ignored, "
No, Trump is exploiting a "long and deep dissatisfaction". Sad that the dissatisfied can't see that now before they comprehend it later.
No, Trump is exploiting a "long and deep dissatisfaction". Sad that the dissatisfied can't see that now before they comprehend it later.
3
The emperor has no clothes. Finally, it has come to light.
1
Trump is a horror, but we should remember that the recent, detailed interview with Barack Obama, conducted by Jeffrey Goldberg, published in The Atlantic, showed that our responsible, careful, realistic, current president would also like to "off-load some of America's foreign policy responsibilities to its allies" and convince European "free-riders" to contribute more of their share.
12
Policing the world? Whose idea on that do we follow? John McCain and Lindsay Graham or the current administration?
2
Our nation has had some awful presidents since 1968. Several not qualified, including Nixon (mental health) and George W Bush (ignorance). Clearly, our voters are uneducated in civics and have been for some time. Trump is not qualified. Trump has ideas, but so do children. Some say Trump tells it like it really is. Really? So, how many international leaders has Trump spoken to about real problems, in real countries around the world? What does Trump know about resolving poverty in the US? I've never seen Trump hodnob with the poor or middle class in order to understand their mounting problems. I have ideas spinning around my head. Maybe I'm qualified to be president. Isn't that scary?
10
The central reasoning for maintaining military forces is to provide credible defence of one's country to discourage attack of it by hostile forces. Particularly given that the US doesn't face any threats from other countries of the American continents, I believe it is woefully over-extended in its force projection. It is seemingly happy to suggest its large military is compensation for other deficiencies. It patently favours spending to defend its homeland and people rather than to improve its homeland and people - making them more worthy of defending.
Some projection of American military might beyond its shores is warranted. I am not totally against the US having bases and installations in the lands of its allies. However the application of American military might should be more threat than reality, a potential expressed in actuality sparingly and wisely - such as to prevent genocide - not in reckless attempts to spread democracy that reek of anthropological naivety and a greater desire to foster arms sales, rather than to actually make the world a more peaceful place.
The US's nuclear arms provide much of its credible defence against the use of nuclear and conventional weapons against it by other major powers. The threat of war with such is not really high. Indeed despite its disagreements with Russia, it should seek an agreement with it to monitor each other's reduction of each other's active nuclear armaments to 500 from their current levels.
IS is no threat to the US.
Some projection of American military might beyond its shores is warranted. I am not totally against the US having bases and installations in the lands of its allies. However the application of American military might should be more threat than reality, a potential expressed in actuality sparingly and wisely - such as to prevent genocide - not in reckless attempts to spread democracy that reek of anthropological naivety and a greater desire to foster arms sales, rather than to actually make the world a more peaceful place.
The US's nuclear arms provide much of its credible defence against the use of nuclear and conventional weapons against it by other major powers. The threat of war with such is not really high. Indeed despite its disagreements with Russia, it should seek an agreement with it to monitor each other's reduction of each other's active nuclear armaments to 500 from their current levels.
IS is no threat to the US.
10
Those who point to some sense in what Trump says are missing the point, are falling for the scam. Trump has no cohesive philosophy; he has a rhetorical trick. He simply takes sequences of talking points to field test them and then amplifies those which cause a response. They do not have to make sense together, provided each voters hears one thing the resonates personally: yup that's right, they do look like rapists.
Now he is aiming at the intellectual market where foreign policy is a key differentiator. So he takes the sort of Obama position ( because he want leftish voters too) and then extends, articulates it with extremes and headline worthy examples, grabs the free press and selects a few tag lines to use in the next round.
But do not confuse politics with public speaking : he cares nothing for the former except as a device for the latter. He is after your adulation and your vote, and will say whatever you like to get it.
Now he is aiming at the intellectual market where foreign policy is a key differentiator. So he takes the sort of Obama position ( because he want leftish voters too) and then extends, articulates it with extremes and headline worthy examples, grabs the free press and selects a few tag lines to use in the next round.
But do not confuse politics with public speaking : he cares nothing for the former except as a device for the latter. He is after your adulation and your vote, and will say whatever you like to get it.
4
Cohen clearly has a listening comprehension problem because Trump indicated he would reconfigure some of the fundamentals of NATO given the passage of time and current affairs. In this regard, Trump is right. NATO as it stands is not prepared to deal with the new threat. Under Obama and HRC, the world has destabilized and is worse than ever, and there is no strategy to cope with China, Korea, Libya, Putin, etc. Many things needs to change, including NATO.
2
"'starting to go robust' as it did around 1900." Trump is no Teddy Roosevelt!
"A Japan with nukes." As well as South Korea in the Asia according to Trump.Trump may try in such interviews to appear to be thoughtful in regards to such,when the truth,as his initial reaction to the Brussels terror attack ,he too often pops off without giving prior thought to what he says.As such Trump is an example of why President Obama was right and his critics wrong when his initial statement about the attacks were brief . Unlike Trump Obama waited to get more facts about the attacks before making a much longer statement,preferring to actually know what he's talking about.
Here's a sharp contrast from the past to Trump's impulsive ,ignorant and,if were President, harmful pronouncements ; I was a high school freshman during the Cuban Missal crises,and Trump makes me more grateful than ever that at the we didn't have the kind push the button now,think later President that Trump would.
So, PLEASE,my voting brothers and sisters,join me in not electing Trump.
Here's a sharp contrast from the past to Trump's impulsive ,ignorant and,if were President, harmful pronouncements ; I was a high school freshman during the Cuban Missal crises,and Trump makes me more grateful than ever that at the we didn't have the kind push the button now,think later President that Trump would.
So, PLEASE,my voting brothers and sisters,join me in not electing Trump.
2
Trump bothers me for a lot of reasons, but near the top of the list is the mysterious faith that his deal making in finance will naturally extend to foreign policy. Deals in finance are about money and who you are going to give your business to. When Trump's deals have gone bad (e.g. a casino goes bankrupt), he loses money, a bank loses money, and everyone walks away and tries to do better next time. But in affairs of state, deals are often about how and when military force will be used and when they go bad, the consequences are different. People get killed. I just don't hear this distinction between talked about much in Trumpville.
I do get the challenges of engagement and international policing, but as Obama learned in Afghanistan, it is easier to dislike this role than it is to walk away from it. The price may be terror camps plotting attacks on American skyscrapers again. And for all the ranting about this, most American presidents have tried to pursue their goals through international organizations -- eg. NATO and the UN. This is why diplomacy and having friends matter.
Ultimately, however, America remains a country with a conscience. It is either a dangerous flaw or a reason for embracing it as a citizen. I chose to embrace it while trying not be naive about the dangers of the world; Trump seems to speak to too many who see conscience as a flaw.
Scary man.
I do get the challenges of engagement and international policing, but as Obama learned in Afghanistan, it is easier to dislike this role than it is to walk away from it. The price may be terror camps plotting attacks on American skyscrapers again. And for all the ranting about this, most American presidents have tried to pursue their goals through international organizations -- eg. NATO and the UN. This is why diplomacy and having friends matter.
Ultimately, however, America remains a country with a conscience. It is either a dangerous flaw or a reason for embracing it as a citizen. I chose to embrace it while trying not be naive about the dangers of the world; Trump seems to speak to too many who see conscience as a flaw.
Scary man.
5
Hoose afraid of Donald trump! New bestseller from the ostrich press. It's a story of an unhappy couple who have been estranged for years. Their children do not know what to do about them. They seem to be suffering from all sorts of physical and psychological maladies. Doctors and specialists have all weighed in and there is no cure much less a diagnosis. Their children are besides themselves. What about our inheritance??? They ask. What about all the servants and gardeners and the church helpers and all those who depend on our parents for support. What will happen to the order in our lives??? Stay tuned!
Roger Cohen is a very knowledgeable journalist but I'd like to know how many bases and naval carrier groups he thinks the US can afford. Retracting and withdrawing from many of them is not going to cause the world to suddenly collapse-- any more than the withdrawal of US military forces from Haiti, Nicaragua and Cuba did in the early 20th century.
5
America has chosen revolutionary instability in the name of violent regime change for the purpose of installing democracy as the end of history. It appears that we now have our own wars to hasten a new dialectic of history to fruition.
George W Bush broke the postwar architecture of stability, but Mr. Cohen seems not to have noticed. Trump wants to recognize this fact, and then act to redine America's relationship with Europe because it is now necessary to reorder the detritus of the Bush rampage for Democracy in order to reassert American National Interest to the fore. If Trump is elected the neocons may be finished within the Beltway. This would be a very disturbing outcome for Cohen and the NYT. Too bad!
George W Bush broke the postwar architecture of stability, but Mr. Cohen seems not to have noticed. Trump wants to recognize this fact, and then act to redine America's relationship with Europe because it is now necessary to reorder the detritus of the Bush rampage for Democracy in order to reassert American National Interest to the fore. If Trump is elected the neocons may be finished within the Beltway. This would be a very disturbing outcome for Cohen and the NYT. Too bad!
3
I think refuting the nonsense and know-nothingism of Trump is a waste of time--his supporters embrace what ever comes out of his mouth as "telling it like it is"--no matter how nonsensical and often contradictory from what he just said the day before it may be.
They won't be dissuaded from supporting him.
As one of his fans told a reporter a couple of weeks ago--the only thing that would deter her from voting for the Donald would be if he shot the woman's daughter in the middle of the street.
The key question therefore is really how much support he really has--beyond his rabid rabble?
The fact is--he doesn't even have the support of a majority of the Republican base--his ceiling even in that reality challenged environment seems to be around 40%--in a nation where Republicans make up 32% of the electorate--that translates into a HUGE defeat in November.
They won't be dissuaded from supporting him.
As one of his fans told a reporter a couple of weeks ago--the only thing that would deter her from voting for the Donald would be if he shot the woman's daughter in the middle of the street.
The key question therefore is really how much support he really has--beyond his rabid rabble?
The fact is--he doesn't even have the support of a majority of the Republican base--his ceiling even in that reality challenged environment seems to be around 40%--in a nation where Republicans make up 32% of the electorate--that translates into a HUGE defeat in November.
1
I hope you are correct, but I have seen many predictions about him
in this election period that have all been wrong.
in this election period that have all been wrong.
1
Trump is correct because we may get a Dem. With a criminal record running for the highest office against a commie with no ability to do math and see where the money comes from in America.
JR.' Blog
JR.' Blog
Policeman of the world? Probably not. But policeman of the seas (with our allies)? Absolutely. Perfectly within alliance capability.
1
Mr. Cohen,
You give Trump far too much credibility.
Trump has no core beliefs. Trump has been ad libbing his candidacy from the beginning. He is this today and that tomorrow. The Times's recent editorial board meeting with him reveals a man who has absolutely no idea about foreign policy; who has no grasp of facts, no an iota of serious interest in policy; who simply "wings it," catering to the fear and loathing so prevalent in certain segments of the American population.
Finally, though, the sheet is being pulled off the corpse of the Trump phenomenon. His tide is ebbing. It appears he's finally run out of cred and upcoming primaries will either prove me right or wrong.
Alas, the GOP front runner apparently emerging from the muck of the 2016 Republican race to the nomination, Ted Cruz, is truly frightening. Here is a man who really does have a forked tongue.
You give Trump far too much credibility.
Trump has no core beliefs. Trump has been ad libbing his candidacy from the beginning. He is this today and that tomorrow. The Times's recent editorial board meeting with him reveals a man who has absolutely no idea about foreign policy; who has no grasp of facts, no an iota of serious interest in policy; who simply "wings it," catering to the fear and loathing so prevalent in certain segments of the American population.
Finally, though, the sheet is being pulled off the corpse of the Trump phenomenon. His tide is ebbing. It appears he's finally run out of cred and upcoming primaries will either prove me right or wrong.
Alas, the GOP front runner apparently emerging from the muck of the 2016 Republican race to the nomination, Ted Cruz, is truly frightening. Here is a man who really does have a forked tongue.
8
The fact that poorly educated, largely white Americans can determine the fate of this country--and by extension the world--should give one pause. I do have sympathy for the white working voters that make up team Trump. That said, their seeming disinterest in separating fact from fiction, and embrace--tacit or outright--of the xenophobic and racist venom Trump spews, considerably diminishes those feelings. I have this to say to the "white working-class Trump voters": in lieu of the "easy way out" (casting a vote for a demagogue) start organizing re-education programs (technology isn't going away), as well as political action groups that might have an impact on issues that have negatively impacted on your jobs. And if your vote propels Trump into power and he leads the world into conflagration, the blame rests squarely at your feet--feet that should have marched you in the direction of constructive political and educational change rather than destructive votes.
5
As Mr. Trump nears the Republican nomination and then perhaps the Presidency, both politicians and citizens need a way to wall him off on his more offensive ideas. I do not believe that the Mitch McConnell idea of making the "President unsuccessful " as he did with Mr. Obama is either practical or proper. We need to cancel out his craziness and make him successful in ways which benefit the nation. If the Congressional Republicans had worked with Mr. Obama to do just that -- find common ground or identify options which were practical and useful -- our country would be better off and we would not be in the middle of the present political mess. Mr. Trump's election can be a terrible event for the nation and world, All of us need ti insure that we get through it successfully.
14
do you seriously think that Congress, if faced with The Donald, can find a way to work with him, when all his rhetoric implies that he knows nothing, has dangerous ideas based on this towierng ignorance, and is anxious to show his supporters how he can ride rough-shod over the other 2 branches of government?
2
how do you "cancel out craziness", how do you fix the unfixable.? And how can you
possibly relate Trump, who is so unfit for the Presidency, with President
Obama's Mitch McConnell obstruction and the latter's efforts to disrespect and
destroy a presidency. Your assumption that Trump might be elected and that we,
the people, will have to make excuses for him is a horror to dream of.
Please, we can't be so out of character as Americans to elect this tv snake oil
salesman who is totally incompetent to be president.
possibly relate Trump, who is so unfit for the Presidency, with President
Obama's Mitch McConnell obstruction and the latter's efforts to disrespect and
destroy a presidency. Your assumption that Trump might be elected and that we,
the people, will have to make excuses for him is a horror to dream of.
Please, we can't be so out of character as Americans to elect this tv snake oil
salesman who is totally incompetent to be president.
3
Worry about the borders of Estonia, the Ukraine? Of course!
Worry about U.S. border integrity? Racism!
Voice criticism of maintaining our legions all over the world while our infrastructure crumbles? Foolhardy!
Welcome to the Bizzaro World of the NY Times Opinion Page.
Worry about U.S. border integrity? Racism!
Voice criticism of maintaining our legions all over the world while our infrastructure crumbles? Foolhardy!
Welcome to the Bizzaro World of the NY Times Opinion Page.
22
Athough it is my firm belive everyone should fear a Trump presidency (or a Cruz presidency, for that matter) and I agree with Mr. Cohen that an American withdrawal from Nato would be a catastrophe, I have to admit that Trump is right that other countries should spent (much) more on defense. It is simply true that European countries relied comfortably on American protection. That is a view that is expressed time and again by virtually all the Nato Secretary-Generals and Supreme Commanders. If Trump's intention is to scare other Nato members in spending more on defense, he might be smarter then I thought.
33
I don't think it's necessary to give Trump credit for any smarts if in his scatter-shot blasts he happens to be right about something here and there.
12
Well, Yes, can't possibly argue with that!
1
The Donald is indeed a loose cannon when it comes to national security. That said, he is not wrong to note that the Saudis are not good citizens of the world, and that it should not fall to the US to be the world's policeman, at least alone. We have plenty of resources to do what needs to be done, we just need to get the rich to let go of a little of the wealth they have accumulated over the past 30 years.
14
As the saying goes: Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Trump indeed is correct in his criticism of Saudi Arabia which, in many ways, is America's foremost enemy.
20
If you consider that his buddy is President Vladimir Putin, who is also probably his foreign policy advisor all this makes sense. A president Trump does not make this anxious american proud but rather makes him want to give up his citizenship.
27
I wouldn't go giving up my citizenship until I saw that he was elected. Let's don't let him make us run away.
Great presidents have a love affair with our founding documents, the DOI and the Constitution. Nothing Trump says reverberates from those documents. He shows no sign of ever having read them much less reflected upon them.
34
More free publicity for this clown. The media need to go dark on this megalomaniac neo-fascist, since they created him, and now take him seriously.
7
Trump may remind me of Berlusconi in his domestic policy, but his proposed foreign policy actually reminds me of Kim Jong Un. North Korea doesn't have two nickels to rub together, yet its leader's "unpredictability" gives it negotiating clout and keeps it in world headlines. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump approved of the strategy on some level.
For example, I don't think Trump seriously intends to pull U.S. troops out of, say South Korea, but he wants others to think that he just MIGHT. And here's the thing: having lived in South Korea for 12 years, U.S. troop presence tends to be viewed at best as a necessary evil. Further, there is an increasingly prevailing view among the young that the U.S. wants to prevent unification in order to keep its troops there and project its global clout. It might not be bad to forge a new understanding.
There is a real risk that Trump could dangerously miscalculate and throw the world into instability. At the same time, an isolationist Trump presidency might allow a subsequent liberal administration to be welcomed back into global affairs with open arms. And given that many of the problems we face in the non-Western world are partly linked to negative sentiments arising from European colonialism and America's Cold War hegemony, a "hands-off" cooling and regrouping period might also have its positive points.
For example, I don't think Trump seriously intends to pull U.S. troops out of, say South Korea, but he wants others to think that he just MIGHT. And here's the thing: having lived in South Korea for 12 years, U.S. troop presence tends to be viewed at best as a necessary evil. Further, there is an increasingly prevailing view among the young that the U.S. wants to prevent unification in order to keep its troops there and project its global clout. It might not be bad to forge a new understanding.
There is a real risk that Trump could dangerously miscalculate and throw the world into instability. At the same time, an isolationist Trump presidency might allow a subsequent liberal administration to be welcomed back into global affairs with open arms. And given that many of the problems we face in the non-Western world are partly linked to negative sentiments arising from European colonialism and America's Cold War hegemony, a "hands-off" cooling and regrouping period might also have its positive points.
3
Leave it to the likes of cowardly dishonorable unpatriotic serial draft dodgers and military service evaders like Donald John Trump, Rafael Edward Cruz, John Richard Kasich and Mrs. William Jefferson Clinton to continue to lean and rely on the 0.75% of Americans who have volunteered since 9/11/01 to put on the military uniform of any American armed force.
In a just world these despicable scavengers and parasites would be on the front lines against ISIL and al Qaeda along with their family and friends risking life and limb to kidnapping, torture and indefinite detention.
In a just world these despicable scavengers and parasites would be on the front lines against ISIL and al Qaeda along with their family and friends risking life and limb to kidnapping, torture and indefinite detention.
3
Since when is Hillary Clinton a draft dodger or military service evader? She may never have set her own military boots on the ground but one can certainly say that she served on the front lines of diplomacy, more than one can say for the other three. And wasn't she literally on the front line at the table when Obama gave the order to go after Bin Laden? Whatever you may think of her, she does not qualify for your list of "despicable scavengers and parasites."
2
The "stupid party" (GOP) is now about to nominate their "stupid" leader aka Trump. The only thing that can stand between today and a "stupid president" is the Democratic party (hopefully!).
For the sake for the future of this country, it's time for the current GOP to disintegrate, split off the 30% racist/nativist/Truther base of theirs and somehow re-form as a reformed economically conservative, socially moderate, fact and science believing party, much like the conservatives of western Europe.
Easier said than done. There is too much entrenched power and money to keep the status quo.
For the sake for the future of this country, it's time for the current GOP to disintegrate, split off the 30% racist/nativist/Truther base of theirs and somehow re-form as a reformed economically conservative, socially moderate, fact and science believing party, much like the conservatives of western Europe.
Easier said than done. There is too much entrenched power and money to keep the status quo.
11
It does seem that many of Mr. Trumps positions are based on two minute conversation with himself, with no outside sources consulted. But how long and hard do you have to think about Iraq to see what a blunder it was? Two minutes seems excessive. Vietnam Nam? Panama? Chile? We needed that?
22
The greatest crime of all has been the systematic rape of the United States by its military-industrial complex, that has been ongoing since around the end of WWII. We should reserve our self-righteous indignation, if we are not direct beneficiaries of the corporations who gave us war without end since 1945, for their wasteful nihilistic policies, all in the name of boosting this quarter's P&L figures. Trump is merely the rash the plutocrats have broken out in.
10
Good realistic post. America has not been weak or broke. We continue to wreak havoc around the world in the name of democracy as we unstabliize more and more of the world. We use war to support our corporations and enable them to invade other countries with their capitalist mentality.
It's commonly accepted that Russia was the agressor in Ukraine when it's quite clear we financed the overthrow of a legitimate government and Russia had to react to the overthrow of a government on their border, just as we would but we'd do it a lot more violently.
It's commonly accepted that Russia was the agressor in Ukraine when it's quite clear we financed the overthrow of a legitimate government and Russia had to react to the overthrow of a government on their border, just as we would but we'd do it a lot more violently.
1
TRUMP's promising pulverize the Pax Americana with to replace it with a pox on all their houses is indescribably horrible. He seems to display symptoms of grandiosity, irritability, concreteness in reasoning, severe lack of insight and judgment, impulsive behavior and disorientation to place. Beyond that his vast ignorance is disqualifying. However, Trump appears to exhibit symptoms of dementia, a progressive, disabling neurological disorder. He must be required to submit to extensive neurological and neuropsychological testing including brain scans. While some of his symptoms may also be attributed to his narcissistic personality, they may also be caused by frontal lobe dementia. Trump may well have gotten a glowing health report from a medical team he hand-picked and likely paid handsomely. A medical panel provided by the government expanding the evaluation he has had to this point is urgently needed. None of this, of course, is to mention the apparent approaching suicide of the GOP. What this country needs is not a five cent cigar at political rallies. It needs those who occupy high office to be physically sound, including on the level of brain functioning. The brain is an organ of the body and can be disabled and/or diseased. Trump's lack of evidence of extensive testing to evaluate brain function is a dangerous shortcoming that must be corrected immediately. If when you have a hammer, all problems become nails, you have dementia, all everything is a deal!
3
Donald Trump is wrong on many things, but he is right that the United States should stop trying to be the World Cop. It does not pay very well. (Actually, it pays nothing but costs a lot.)
It is so easy for a European like Mr. Cohen to keep agitating for the U.S. to be the World Cop. Most Americans are sick and tired of the rest of the world being free riders.
I want us to pass the mantle of “World Cop” to another country. I nominate Switzerland.
It is so easy for a European like Mr. Cohen to keep agitating for the U.S. to be the World Cop. Most Americans are sick and tired of the rest of the world being free riders.
I want us to pass the mantle of “World Cop” to another country. I nominate Switzerland.
26
Actually, the US is a lousy cop.
This article is not about Donald Trump. It is about managing the decline of American Hegemonic power. Mr. Cohen wishes to blame China, Trump and of course Putin for the decline. They are simply responding to the aggression unleashed by the death throes of Pax Americana (aka American Empire)
7
"the aggression unleashed by the death throes of Pax Americana"
That aggression was unleashed by a specific arrogant political philosophy that denied limits and good sense, known among Republicans as neocons and among Democrats as Hawks, but really much the same thing.
It did things, and justified things, that Eisenhower for example would not have done and would have derided as unjustified and outright foolish. See his treatment of Hungary and the attack on the Suez Canal in the middle of his years in power. If America is seen as an Empire, that was fully formed under Eisenhower, and he refused to do such things with that power.
So the decline is about the things done by Bush, continued with limits but still too much by Obama, and which Hillary promises to do far more than Obama would.
Note that Cohen loudly supported doing these things when they were done, and he still loudly supports Hillary doing them again. That is why his version of reality is so flawed. He starts in Cheney's world, as does Hillary, and that is a recipe for disaster.
Both Trump and Bernie reject that. They reject Cohen's whole philosophy as he wrote it at the time. They reject what Hillary still would do.
But yes, in addition, Trump is a wild man. Despite that, these specific policies are actually more responsible than Hillary's, yet less so than Bernie. That is after all a major reason why Obama defeated Hillary, and she hasn't changed that.
That aggression was unleashed by a specific arrogant political philosophy that denied limits and good sense, known among Republicans as neocons and among Democrats as Hawks, but really much the same thing.
It did things, and justified things, that Eisenhower for example would not have done and would have derided as unjustified and outright foolish. See his treatment of Hungary and the attack on the Suez Canal in the middle of his years in power. If America is seen as an Empire, that was fully formed under Eisenhower, and he refused to do such things with that power.
So the decline is about the things done by Bush, continued with limits but still too much by Obama, and which Hillary promises to do far more than Obama would.
Note that Cohen loudly supported doing these things when they were done, and he still loudly supports Hillary doing them again. That is why his version of reality is so flawed. He starts in Cheney's world, as does Hillary, and that is a recipe for disaster.
Both Trump and Bernie reject that. They reject Cohen's whole philosophy as he wrote it at the time. They reject what Hillary still would do.
But yes, in addition, Trump is a wild man. Despite that, these specific policies are actually more responsible than Hillary's, yet less so than Bernie. That is after all a major reason why Obama defeated Hillary, and she hasn't changed that.
10
Absolutely agree with you. Eisenhower had been involved in the distribution of spheres of influence in Europe, with the Soviet Union. In my opinion Hillary will be a disaster for the USA; she has no judgement whatsoever and is in a worse place than the aging neo-cons, like Roger Cohen, when it comes to understanding the limits of Hegemonic power, and in particular the dangers facing an hegemonic power in decline. To my mind Obama may have made a calculation that he could compromise with the neo-con war party – giving them perhaps Ukraine and Libya and maybe Syria to 'play with' whilst he concentrated on a deal with Iran. A major achievement given the massive imperial resistance. (Hillary had already stuck her oar into Syria)
Obama’s recent interview seems in part an apology for getting that compromise wrong. The USA has been made look foolish in Ukraine and Syria and murderous in Libya. There are a number of chickens coming home to roost and Hillary is likely to have to tend them. Then it shall be appropriate to say God help the USA.
Obama’s recent interview seems in part an apology for getting that compromise wrong. The USA has been made look foolish in Ukraine and Syria and murderous in Libya. There are a number of chickens coming home to roost and Hillary is likely to have to tend them. Then it shall be appropriate to say God help the USA.
2
This is getting close to being a deep thoughtful conversation. Both Trump and Bernie are popular because they want a more realistic acceptance of our responsibilities: it should be our citizens first, and other countries need to do more for themselves. Traditional Republicans have been tossed out of their own party because they still think the US is in a fight with a spread of Communism--witness Rubio and Cruz as Cubans still fighting Castro. 'Smarter' Republicans just tried to transfer our blood lust from 'Commies' to Muslims. (They also are confident they can defeat Sanders by calling him a Communist sympathizer.)
And traditional Democrats are being roughed up because they have become more dependent on Wall Street and big business than on unions and small business. They lost their blue collar base. And they are just as much beholden to the military-industrial complex. It is shocking to me that Hilary has Christmas parties with Alan Greenspan, Andrea Mitchell, and Henry Kissinger.
Bottom line: both Trump and Sanders want to make our foreign policy less colonial and less military. Nothing wrong with that, once you realize we are just (way too slowly) no longer in the 1950s. Trump and Sanders can both see that Saudi Arabia has been the source of more problems in the US than Iran or Iraq ever were, and that Russia should be seen as something more like Iran than like the old USSR.
And traditional Democrats are being roughed up because they have become more dependent on Wall Street and big business than on unions and small business. They lost their blue collar base. And they are just as much beholden to the military-industrial complex. It is shocking to me that Hilary has Christmas parties with Alan Greenspan, Andrea Mitchell, and Henry Kissinger.
Bottom line: both Trump and Sanders want to make our foreign policy less colonial and less military. Nothing wrong with that, once you realize we are just (way too slowly) no longer in the 1950s. Trump and Sanders can both see that Saudi Arabia has been the source of more problems in the US than Iran or Iraq ever were, and that Russia should be seen as something more like Iran than like the old USSR.
1
You know, it's really simple. A guy who doesn't know what the nuclear triad is, but wants to have his finger on the red button, is a dangerous lunatic on the loose. How anyone who doesn't get his news from Howard Beale could possibly vote for this idiot is beyond me. How any woman with a brain could vote for him is beyond me. By all that's good and holy, Trump's support should peak at about 3% of the electorate, all angry white males without even a high school degree, who live in trailer parks, fear anyone of color, who know nothing about how trade works or the international order or the government of the United States. But there is nothing either good or holy about the new breed of Republicans, despite their sanctimonious smarminess. We must look like a clown show to the other members of the G-20.
66
"We cannot act alone as the policeman of the world." —Bonar Law, October 1922.
British liberal thought, viz., that economics is all that matters (which Obama shares), in conjunction with good will, appeasement (which only acquired its stigma ex post facto—even Churchill openly called for it in 1921), and an insistence on Never Again (vis-à-vis the Great War; Iraq, in Obama's case) undoubtedly contributed to the creation of a situation whereby, by the end of the 1920s—and note that this was the Weimar Republic—Germany was, in the words of Donald Kagan, "essentially free of the checks imposed on it by the Versailles Treaty, was rearming with modern weapons and training officers and men in modern tactics, and was already restored to leadership in industrial power."
Kagan says of the Versailles Treaty that its tragedy was "that it was neither conciliatory enough to remove the desire for change … nor harsh enough to make another war impossible." Ultimately, he judges the Versailles Treaty to've been "not unduly harsh … from a relevant comparative perspective" and reminds us to "recognize that much of the time whatever international arrangement is in place has produced an injustice somewhere."
Obama is skeptical of overt U.S. power. Much of the fantasy that Trump talks up when he speaks coherently of foreign policy is indeed shared by elements of the Left. If his thinking becomes mainstream, we could see retreat become as bipartisan as appeasement was in 1920s Britain.
British liberal thought, viz., that economics is all that matters (which Obama shares), in conjunction with good will, appeasement (which only acquired its stigma ex post facto—even Churchill openly called for it in 1921), and an insistence on Never Again (vis-à-vis the Great War; Iraq, in Obama's case) undoubtedly contributed to the creation of a situation whereby, by the end of the 1920s—and note that this was the Weimar Republic—Germany was, in the words of Donald Kagan, "essentially free of the checks imposed on it by the Versailles Treaty, was rearming with modern weapons and training officers and men in modern tactics, and was already restored to leadership in industrial power."
Kagan says of the Versailles Treaty that its tragedy was "that it was neither conciliatory enough to remove the desire for change … nor harsh enough to make another war impossible." Ultimately, he judges the Versailles Treaty to've been "not unduly harsh … from a relevant comparative perspective" and reminds us to "recognize that much of the time whatever international arrangement is in place has produced an injustice somewhere."
Obama is skeptical of overt U.S. power. Much of the fantasy that Trump talks up when he speaks coherently of foreign policy is indeed shared by elements of the Left. If his thinking becomes mainstream, we could see retreat become as bipartisan as appeasement was in 1920s Britain.
2
when he was running in 1999/2000, bush made speeches about bringing back american troops from foreign bases, and not engaging in nation building
candidates say lot of things
then do just th opposite
candidates say lot of things
then do just th opposite
2
I have an old song from 1992 stuck in my head. It is Democracy from Leonard Cohen's The Future album. When I see the word Disorder I think immediately of Leonard Cohen's song and the line "the war against disorder."
The Trump phenomenon is ground zero in the war against disorder and here in a real democracy I think how far we have come in 25 years. Democracy requires a population with access to education and security it is the anathema of the GOP.
'From the brave, the bold , the battered heart of Chevrolet."
https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1AVNG_enCA...
The Trump phenomenon is ground zero in the war against disorder and here in a real democracy I think how far we have come in 25 years. Democracy requires a population with access to education and security it is the anathema of the GOP.
'From the brave, the bold , the battered heart of Chevrolet."
https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1AVNG_enCA...
1
Yes, "American should stop policing the world." It's time for others so widely admired by the liberal press...Denmark, Sweden, etc...to pick up their share of the defense umbrella. It's time for a truly cooperative multinational effort to ensure stability and progress. It's time for the defense spending of our allies to step up, and for our own such spending gradually to decline relative to others. That's not isolationism, it's true internationalism. Currently the US spends as much on defense as the next 7 highest spending nations combined; how about we improve that ratio so that we spend as much as the next two or three? What could we do with the funds thus available? How about better highways, mass transit, healthcare?
37
Sweden is not in NATO and has always paid for its own defense.
Even if a Trump presidency is "no longer a fanciful notion," it doesn't mean that he will be elected. But his rise to prominence has laid bare the downright disaffection of many Americans toward their government and the establishment. The same phenomenon can be observed among the adamant supporters of BernieSanders. That they get carried away by anti-establishment rhetoric is a clear message to the next president that there are Americans who "don't want business as usual." In order to improve their livelihood and give them a sense of expectation, it is useful to alleviate social despair and narrow the gap of inequality.
12
Of course they are disaffected. They've had 40 years of the right wing pounding them with the thought that government is a problem, not a solution. Even after FDR proved that government can help if you are truly governed rathter than ruled. As long as the people continue to accept the right wing propaganda, they will continue to be disaffected.
When the right wing does get into office, they ensure that government does not help the people, only the rich.
When the right wing does get into office, they ensure that government does not help the people, only the rich.
It's almost as if Donald Trump is thrusting his own insecurities onto the world stage. The man clearly has a chip on his shoulder, whether from some old psycho drama with his father or some slight in school or some perceived disrespect in his youth.
If this man child makes it to the world stage, lookout. Mr. Trump is out to prove something, more to himself than to his supporters. Beware the man who inside is secretly insecure: bullies do not make great leaders. History is replete with them, and the results were near disaster.
If this man child makes it to the world stage, lookout. Mr. Trump is out to prove something, more to himself than to his supporters. Beware the man who inside is secretly insecure: bullies do not make great leaders. History is replete with them, and the results were near disaster.
13
"But that Trump and facts are uneasy partners is already well known"
Well known outside the body of Trump supporters who believe that he speaks the truth that no one else will. "Facts" can, indeed, be objectively true, but in our present climate what the facts are depends upon where one stands. I, for example, see the UN as a good, if sometimes weak organization. The Tea Party folk believe that the UN is an evil organization filled with a cabal of evil folks intent upon "taking over the world" and destroying America.
Well known outside the body of Trump supporters who believe that he speaks the truth that no one else will. "Facts" can, indeed, be objectively true, but in our present climate what the facts are depends upon where one stands. I, for example, see the UN as a good, if sometimes weak organization. The Tea Party folk believe that the UN is an evil organization filled with a cabal of evil folks intent upon "taking over the world" and destroying America.
7
Much of what ails the U.S. could be aleviated by simply cutting the budget of our defense industry and realocating that money into the domestic economy. There are very obvious ways to do this…rebuild our energy, transportation, and communication infrastructure. This would employ people for about 25-30 years while being accomplished, setting us up for the next age, independent of fossil fuels. Germany was mild on Russia, because oil and gas is simply not as important as it was 10 years ago. They have taken drastic steps to reduce their dependence, thereby making themselves much freer. They have free university even for English speaking peoples, which is why they build the compenent of IPhones and we do not. We incarcerate our potential talents in privatized prisons or we indebt our children for their educations, so that they can't buy homes or start family life. Nato is not as big an issue when you take out oil and gas, which is what WWll ultimately was fought over. Those with the oil and gas could keep on fighting... Makes money for the banks and the war profiteers. So Trump has a point or two. But he doesn't posit the right reasons for the obvious.
11
if a non white or a non rich person said what trump says, we wouldn't put him in th wh, wed put him in Bellevue
bill maher
bill maher
23
Trump offers simple solutions for people with simple minds.
There is a dearth of intelligent political discourse in this Country. Trump, and Republicans already in Washington, reflect that fact.
This is a combustible deficiency.
There is a dearth of intelligent political discourse in this Country. Trump, and Republicans already in Washington, reflect that fact.
This is a combustible deficiency.
24
Trump has not made an anxious America proud. He is making some Republicans proud. Only Republicans buy what he sells.
11
That's not pride Trump is making his supporters feel. It's just the sound all their anger and rage for the years they've been promised this and that only to see their taxes go up and the 1%'s go down each round. They're right to be angry but they should be angry at themselves. They keep voting this cynical and selfish bunch into office and into power. The rageful have a rager to vent their spleen.
3
This, unfortunately, is wishful thinking. A great many Trump supporters are in fact the vaunted and sought-after "independents," and even some disenfranchised former Democrats.
2
Frightened by Trump's recent mutterings, I did a search to learn if he could enact any of his preposterous foreign policy ideas without Congress's approval. At present, a president has considerable power in this regard. Which tells me that if the unthinkable happens, if Trump wins in November, the Senate must pass immediately, before the inauguration, a law that requires at least a 3/4 vote on any foreign policy proposal originating from the Executive Branch.
4
hmm...they can pass a bill. It does not become law till a president signs it. I don't think Pres. O will sign something radical like that.
As the old saying goes, we get the government (and politicians) we deserve!
The only thing that really stand between GOP leader Trump and President Trump is the sensible voters of the Democratic and Republican party.
As the old saying goes, we get the government (and politicians) we deserve!
The only thing that really stand between GOP leader Trump and President Trump is the sensible voters of the Democratic and Republican party.
1
The Senate can not pass a law by itself. It needs the House, and a President to sign the new law. If Mr Trump does become President Trump it would seem he had the majority of Americans voting for him. I would think there would be hell to pay for the legleslators who voted for this law in the 2018 mid term elections. And they know it.
1
Mr. Cohen rightly asserts that 'the World will become a dangerous place" when the US will pull out. Trump and many of his supporters probably don't give a damn, because they are longing to withdraw behind the beautiful wall he will build. But that Trump doesn't seem to understand that an unsafe world, where America gave up its strong position will be bad for trade and business is proof that he is not only a terrifying politician, but a lousy businessman as well.
12
Donald Trump is a business/showman, not an ideolog. He doesn't intend to carry out what he says, he just wan't to be President. Just as Secratery Clinton doesn't intend to help the middle class, she just wants to be President also.
4
Trump another swaggering ignoramus. We tried that in 2000. And it
worked out so well. NOT.
worked out so well. NOT.
24
The supreme court tried that. Remember it was a fixed election where the supreme court decided.
2
Donald Trump's speech to AIPAC was the same as Hillary Clinton's speech to AIPAC.
So how are we to distinguish between Trump's foreign policy and Clinton's foreign policy, if and when they are their parties' nominees? Differences in tone?
Sheldon Adelson will be funding the candidate most unquestioningly supportive of Israel and most harsh on Iran. How will he choose which candidate to back?
The answer is, he won't choose. Adelson will do what Wall Street does. He'll back both candidates.
So how are we to distinguish between Trump's foreign policy and Clinton's foreign policy, if and when they are their parties' nominees? Differences in tone?
Sheldon Adelson will be funding the candidate most unquestioningly supportive of Israel and most harsh on Iran. How will he choose which candidate to back?
The answer is, he won't choose. Adelson will do what Wall Street does. He'll back both candidates.
9
Their policies on Israel may well be the same; their policies in every other part of the world will NOT be.
What Mr. Cohen's terms "the architecture of postwar stability" has meant, objectively, 70 years of hyper-militarism and perpetual war. One need not side with Mr. Trump to find folly in such a world view.
27
"To say NATO is obsolete... at a time when President Vladimir Putin is determined to assert Russian power is dangerous folly. Ask the Baltic States that have been spared Putin’s aggression only because they are now NATO members."
Well, thank heaven for NATO. But why is President Vladimir Putin determined to assert Russian power? What makes him so aggressive?
One possible factor: when the Soviet Union collapsed, western negotiators promised the Russians that NATO wouldn't come to the Warsaw Pact countries on Russia's doorstep. Most of those countries, including the Baltic States cited by Mr. Cohen, are now members of NATO, complete with military bases on Russia's doorstep pointing NATO military technology at Russia. Putin sees populist pro-western coups nextdoor in this light. He sees Crimea as the place he has to take a stand.
In 1962, the United States nearly ended the world over the presence of Russian ballistic missiles in Cuba. That was one time among many when American leaders were determined to exert American power. Cuba probably felt that it was spared American aggression only because it now had Russian protection.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are two neo-fascist bullies who probably deserve each other, preferably in a world without nuclear weapons or other people. But somehow both of them might come closer to the truth than Mr. Cohen on this issue. NATO isn't just expensive and obsolete. With the way it's been provoking Russia, it's also a dangerous folly.
Well, thank heaven for NATO. But why is President Vladimir Putin determined to assert Russian power? What makes him so aggressive?
One possible factor: when the Soviet Union collapsed, western negotiators promised the Russians that NATO wouldn't come to the Warsaw Pact countries on Russia's doorstep. Most of those countries, including the Baltic States cited by Mr. Cohen, are now members of NATO, complete with military bases on Russia's doorstep pointing NATO military technology at Russia. Putin sees populist pro-western coups nextdoor in this light. He sees Crimea as the place he has to take a stand.
In 1962, the United States nearly ended the world over the presence of Russian ballistic missiles in Cuba. That was one time among many when American leaders were determined to exert American power. Cuba probably felt that it was spared American aggression only because it now had Russian protection.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are two neo-fascist bullies who probably deserve each other, preferably in a world without nuclear weapons or other people. But somehow both of them might come closer to the truth than Mr. Cohen on this issue. NATO isn't just expensive and obsolete. With the way it's been provoking Russia, it's also a dangerous folly.
10
If Mr. Trump was the president, many dangers to international security would not have occurred.Among them are:
1) Continued occupation by Turkey of a NATO ally, Cyprus.
2) Russian invasion and dominance of Ukraine.
3) Russian invasion into Syria to prop up its brutal dictator Assad who massacres his Syrian citizens who oppose his brutal rule, and hence caused massive immigration of Moslem, including Jihadists, into Europe.
4) Immigration of entire populations from oppressive brutal African countries into Europe and to the USA as well.
5) Failing to stop illegal immigration to the USA.
5) Negotiating with the Iran terrorist tyranny by setting up a failed and dangerous nuclear agreement, and at the same time, supplying that dangerous country with hundreds of billions of dollars to the regime that continuously promises to annihilate Israel off the map (!) while threatening the USA and its allies with destruction by developing long range missiles capable of carrying nuclear bombs and at the same time breaking the security council resolutions. And, is the main sponsor of international terrorism.
6) Allowing the North Korea dictator threaten the destruction of the USA and South Korea by nuclear weapons,
7) ISIS massacres of all non Moslems, and other Moslems in Iraq and Syria.
Mr. Rogers Cohen fails to address these issues and fails to explain the real reasons for popularity of Trump.
1) Continued occupation by Turkey of a NATO ally, Cyprus.
2) Russian invasion and dominance of Ukraine.
3) Russian invasion into Syria to prop up its brutal dictator Assad who massacres his Syrian citizens who oppose his brutal rule, and hence caused massive immigration of Moslem, including Jihadists, into Europe.
4) Immigration of entire populations from oppressive brutal African countries into Europe and to the USA as well.
5) Failing to stop illegal immigration to the USA.
5) Negotiating with the Iran terrorist tyranny by setting up a failed and dangerous nuclear agreement, and at the same time, supplying that dangerous country with hundreds of billions of dollars to the regime that continuously promises to annihilate Israel off the map (!) while threatening the USA and its allies with destruction by developing long range missiles capable of carrying nuclear bombs and at the same time breaking the security council resolutions. And, is the main sponsor of international terrorism.
6) Allowing the North Korea dictator threaten the destruction of the USA and South Korea by nuclear weapons,
7) ISIS massacres of all non Moslems, and other Moslems in Iraq and Syria.
Mr. Rogers Cohen fails to address these issues and fails to explain the real reasons for popularity of Trump.
2
In brief, I am terrified. There are endless reasons of how we got from A (he's a reality star) to Z (OMG, he's the front runner), but nothing can be undone. I repeat, I'm terrified.
8
There is truth to some of what Trump's saying. All one has to do is drive thru sections of any medium size city in the heartland and realize there have been better days, that there is something to be desired. So yes, the world needs a rational policeman and we happen to be it. But it is costly. No one ever asks the question "and then what?" For better or for worse, Trump did.
7
This column contains the most succinct statement of the neolib/neocon doctrine and rationale that I seen in a long time. According to Roger Cohen "American power and far-flung American garrisons" have "underwritten global security and averted nuclear war for more than seven decades". The great "Pax Americana" has brought an unprecedented era of "postwar stability".
Yet, a 2014 Winn/Gallup poll of international opinion found that the United States was most often named as the greatest threat to world peace, voted three times more dangerous to world peace than the second most dangerous country, which was Pakistan.
That's a pretty big disconnect, Roger. Apparently Pax Americana doesn't look so good to the people of Viet Nam, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Chile, Honduras, Guatamala, etc.
Roger Cohen might want to consider spending more time examining his own paradigm and less time criticizing Trump's, and I am saying this as someone who is not voting for Trump.
Yet, a 2014 Winn/Gallup poll of international opinion found that the United States was most often named as the greatest threat to world peace, voted three times more dangerous to world peace than the second most dangerous country, which was Pakistan.
That's a pretty big disconnect, Roger. Apparently Pax Americana doesn't look so good to the people of Viet Nam, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Chile, Honduras, Guatamala, etc.
Roger Cohen might want to consider spending more time examining his own paradigm and less time criticizing Trump's, and I am saying this as someone who is not voting for Trump.
20
The "many on the left who are convinced that that the United States should stop policing the world" call themselves democratic socialists and are currently being lrd by Bernie Sanders.
4
In order to interprete Trunp nonsense one most be a member of his beloved "poorly educated" you cannot make sense out of nonsense America. We have been, are, and will remain a GREAT nation if we never allow the rubes to run the asylum.
3
This article disregards a number of imp[important facts.
N North
A Atlantic
T Treaty
O Organization
The reason this organization was created was due to the threat of the Soviet Union to Europe. That threat no longer exists. It hasn't existed for many years. General de Gaulle removed France from the military alliance but not the political alliance and that is really the situation of Europe today. Europe wants American military protection but wishes to go its own way politically.
When the U.S. has wanted to act in its interests and Europe didn't see its interests as identical, they offered us no support. Since the rise of the European Union, it now holds tow permanent seats on the UN Security Council as well as an alternating seat. Policies are not made in coordination with the U.S. but are often opposed to us. Space prohibits me from recounting the history of the last fifty years, but if there is really any threat to the Baltic states, I wonder why the nuclear armed members of the EU can't handle it.
American boys and girls weren't born to die for Europe. It's not our job seventy one years after world war II ended. Hopefully, there will be no war in Europe or elsewhere, but if there is, heaven forbid, keep American boys and girls out of it and let the rest of the world deal with their problems.
N North
A Atlantic
T Treaty
O Organization
The reason this organization was created was due to the threat of the Soviet Union to Europe. That threat no longer exists. It hasn't existed for many years. General de Gaulle removed France from the military alliance but not the political alliance and that is really the situation of Europe today. Europe wants American military protection but wishes to go its own way politically.
When the U.S. has wanted to act in its interests and Europe didn't see its interests as identical, they offered us no support. Since the rise of the European Union, it now holds tow permanent seats on the UN Security Council as well as an alternating seat. Policies are not made in coordination with the U.S. but are often opposed to us. Space prohibits me from recounting the history of the last fifty years, but if there is really any threat to the Baltic states, I wonder why the nuclear armed members of the EU can't handle it.
American boys and girls weren't born to die for Europe. It's not our job seventy one years after world war II ended. Hopefully, there will be no war in Europe or elsewhere, but if there is, heaven forbid, keep American boys and girls out of it and let the rest of the world deal with their problems.
11
When will the Washington elite understand what the rest of America gets? Mr. Trump is a deal maker. His "extremist" views on foreign policy are how an artful deal makers opens, not ends, negotiations. The terms of the deal are not yet on the table. These are gambits not positions. Even the Iran deal, which Obama signed, will stay in place under Trump, but will be much more rigorously monitored. If Iran keeps violating it, as they already have, Trump will ask Congress to reinstate the sanctions and twist the EU's arm to go along with it. But he will not go to the UN Security Council as long as China and Russia sit on it. Trump understands players like China and Russia much better than Hillary does, and knows when to spit in their faces and when to smile and shake their hands. He is a master deal maker. He also knows how to make a deal with American voters. "You vote for me, and this is what you get .... If you want something else, let's talk."
7
Mr. Trump doesn't "seem" to understand the deals he wants to make with China on trade are actually deals with American companies who have defected there to take advantage of cheap labor and lack of environmental controls.
Much like his beloved wall there are much simpler options to clip those wings. You'll notice not once does he suggest penalizing the bad behavior of those American owned companies.
So he's either ill informed or lying to you. Take your pick.
Much like his beloved wall there are much simpler options to clip those wings. You'll notice not once does he suggest penalizing the bad behavior of those American owned companies.
So he's either ill informed or lying to you. Take your pick.
1
So, you fantasize that you know what Trump's eventual policies will be, once he's negotiated "The Deal," but it is just that, fantasy. The man has no legislative record, and he has no verbal record that is not contradictory. Frankly, he could say and do anything once he gets elected, and there will have been a speech somewhere, at some time, that indicated that he believed such -- and another speech made somewhere else, at another time, that indicated that he believed exactly the opposite.
1
The great luxury that Donald J. Trump has over people who have invested their lives and careers in public service is that Trump can leave any time he wants. He's a private citizen. The other 'problem child' in the GOP, Senator Cruz, can also leave any time he wants, even though he's an elected Senator. Sarah Palin did it! To use a baseball metaphor, remembering the 1954 Cleveland Indians, the GOP is going to lose the World Series of Elections in November, in four straight losses. The GOP hasn't been able to find a decent, competent candidate for their run for President. They're all incompetents, wannabees, and really, a few of them can move right into televangelism after leaving politics.
5
Roger Cohen is missing (or misrepresenting) the point. I do think that a Trump presidency would be a disaster. But Trump is just a symptom. Others tried to do the same thing. He was just better at it.
The big issue is that Americans, right or wrong, are rejecting the business as usual in millions and it is growing.
The money in politics that used to buy success, now has exactly the opposite effect. Drumming up the kind of slogans that Roger Cohen has lined up here only convince many people that once again the "rigged system" is ignoring their interests and concerns. People are questioning things.
This does not mean that they make wise choices. They do not have the required political sophistication to handle their sense of disillusionment. But they act. They feel they have no choice but to act.
This creates a very dangerous situation. Such political atmosphere is the breeding ground for all sorts of extremism and this is exactly what you see in Republican primaries. Candidates racing to prove who is more extreme.
In such a situation, trumpeting old slogans that outraged the millions in the first place, as Roger Cohen does here, only serves as adding fuel to this fire.
The big issue is that Americans, right or wrong, are rejecting the business as usual in millions and it is growing.
The money in politics that used to buy success, now has exactly the opposite effect. Drumming up the kind of slogans that Roger Cohen has lined up here only convince many people that once again the "rigged system" is ignoring their interests and concerns. People are questioning things.
This does not mean that they make wise choices. They do not have the required political sophistication to handle their sense of disillusionment. But they act. They feel they have no choice but to act.
This creates a very dangerous situation. Such political atmosphere is the breeding ground for all sorts of extremism and this is exactly what you see in Republican primaries. Candidates racing to prove who is more extreme.
In such a situation, trumpeting old slogans that outraged the millions in the first place, as Roger Cohen does here, only serves as adding fuel to this fire.
4
I don't know much about the East China Sea, but "war in Estonia" is a spector of neo-con imagination conceived in the ill-advised eastward expansion of NATO. There's not even 90 miles separating Russia and Estonia, and we were willing to begin a nuclear war when they tried to arm Cuba. The problem with Trump--and it's a big one-- is that he says things that are obviously true and that the media has refused to admit. Who else has had the guts to admit "Bush lied us into war"? Who among us with any kind of historical knowledge doesn't know that Russia by nature is an emperical country that dominates it's neighbors just as we do ours? Handringing over Estonia, Ukraine, et al by the western press is disingenuous at best.
7
I think you mean "Imperial," not empirical.
Most of us believe Trump is an egotistical megalomaniac, with little substance, but that doesn't mean everything he says is wrong. Roger Cohen writes:
"But his version of “America First” — which interestingly converges with the views of many on the left who are convinced that the United States should stop policing the world — looks like a recipe for cataclysm."
So, Mr. Cohen, you don't believe U.S. foreign policy since WWII can already be described as a cataclysm? Disastrous interventions in
.... Iran, Guatemala, Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Chile, Greece, East Timor, Nicaragua, Panama, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan, blind support of Wahhabi-infested Saudi Arabia and Zionist Israel that created Al Qaeda and spawned ISIS ......
And Trump is the original cataclysmic danger to the world?
"But his version of “America First” — which interestingly converges with the views of many on the left who are convinced that the United States should stop policing the world — looks like a recipe for cataclysm."
So, Mr. Cohen, you don't believe U.S. foreign policy since WWII can already be described as a cataclysm? Disastrous interventions in
.... Iran, Guatemala, Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Chile, Greece, East Timor, Nicaragua, Panama, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan, blind support of Wahhabi-infested Saudi Arabia and Zionist Israel that created Al Qaeda and spawned ISIS ......
And Trump is the original cataclysmic danger to the world?
13
Other countries have caught up/surpassed us technologically. Their taxpayers are capable of paying for their own defence, the American people aren't. "We don't have any money" Not only does NATO suffocating the Russians invite provocation but it also enhances the Clash of Civilizations narrative in the Middle East. In the east, Japan could have a nuclear bomb easily if there were ever escalations with China. If North Korea has a nuclear bomb I don't see why the South Koreans shouldn't be allowed to have short range tactical missiles.
I hate to say it but I agree with Trump. The US is still in poll position to dominate the globe economically for the next 100 years, and NASA and the Navy need to be funded heavily. The best thing America can do to stay safe is cut its debt(maybe global warming we'll see). The Chinese currently have better cyber capabilities, and they/mulinationals can watch the world more efficiently than NSA, DOJ, CIA, FBI, combined.
I hate to say it but I agree with Trump. The US is still in poll position to dominate the globe economically for the next 100 years, and NASA and the Navy need to be funded heavily. The best thing America can do to stay safe is cut its debt(maybe global warming we'll see). The Chinese currently have better cyber capabilities, and they/mulinationals can watch the world more efficiently than NSA, DOJ, CIA, FBI, combined.
3
The US is still in poll position to dominate the globe economically for the next 100 years,
ill have what this guy is smoking
ill have what this guy is smoking
2
Do you mean "pole position"?
It's a racing metaphor, not an election metaphor.
It's a racing metaphor, not an election metaphor.
The US should stop being the world's policeman and imperial power, and get out of everyone's business according to Donald Trump. Roger: are you sure Trump is not a Leftist crackpot in disguise?
Oh; by the way. Roger; If a visitor to Ukraine should happen to visit the Ukrainian parliament building, he/she will be graced by the large statue of Ukraine's national hero Bodgan Chelmnitski greeting all visitors in front of the main stairway. Bogdan Chelmnitski is responsible for the murder of 100,000 Jews in the 17th Century -- the greatest mass extermination of Jews in Europe until the Holocaust of WWII. As someone who so often comments on Jewish affairs, can you please explain why anyone should give a rat's rear end for Ukraine against the the ethnic Russians living it its eastern regions many of whose grandparents very likely were murdered by Ukrainian fascists who sided with Hitler, and who would rather remain Russians?
Oh; by the way. Roger; If a visitor to Ukraine should happen to visit the Ukrainian parliament building, he/she will be graced by the large statue of Ukraine's national hero Bodgan Chelmnitski greeting all visitors in front of the main stairway. Bogdan Chelmnitski is responsible for the murder of 100,000 Jews in the 17th Century -- the greatest mass extermination of Jews in Europe until the Holocaust of WWII. As someone who so often comments on Jewish affairs, can you please explain why anyone should give a rat's rear end for Ukraine against the the ethnic Russians living it its eastern regions many of whose grandparents very likely were murdered by Ukrainian fascists who sided with Hitler, and who would rather remain Russians?
7
Trump's statement that the U.S. doesn't have any money is idiocy of a high order. For those with long memories, it sounds like the clanking fist full of stupidity uttered by the first President Bush in 1988, who used his inaugural address to formulate one of the dumbest constructions ever uttered by an America president: "Our hearts our full, but our wallets are empty." Even so called conservatives called G.H.W. Bush down on that one, even though years later.
Trump's blunt style of showing his ignorance does not mean that the questions raised are entirely without merit. What do we get in exchange for defending the world? What does the United States get, what have we gotten, from spending trillions of dollars and the lives of citizens? Mike Mansfield of Montana, who was Senate majority leader back when the Democrats were at the top of their game in DC, said in speech after speech on the Senate floor that Europe should have been paying more of its share for the America shield. Instead, as the decades have shown, we are criticized at every turn but continue to pick up the tab.
A protest vote in a presidential primary process might make sense, but if our nation, in the form of Republican voters, trusts Trump with the levers of power the regrets will extend well past mid-century, perhaps forever. He knows almost nothing about which he speaks with great forceful confidence and would lead us down blind alleys into a world of chaos and massive death and destruction.
Doug Terry
Trump's blunt style of showing his ignorance does not mean that the questions raised are entirely without merit. What do we get in exchange for defending the world? What does the United States get, what have we gotten, from spending trillions of dollars and the lives of citizens? Mike Mansfield of Montana, who was Senate majority leader back when the Democrats were at the top of their game in DC, said in speech after speech on the Senate floor that Europe should have been paying more of its share for the America shield. Instead, as the decades have shown, we are criticized at every turn but continue to pick up the tab.
A protest vote in a presidential primary process might make sense, but if our nation, in the form of Republican voters, trusts Trump with the levers of power the regrets will extend well past mid-century, perhaps forever. He knows almost nothing about which he speaks with great forceful confidence and would lead us down blind alleys into a world of chaos and massive death and destruction.
Doug Terry
3
To those who point out that some of trump's thoughts are possibly valid:
I have a broken clock. Yet, twice a day, it is absolutely correct.
I have a broken clock. Yet, twice a day, it is absolutely correct.
2
and it is correct only for an instant,
then continues for 11.59.99999999999999 hours incorrect
then continues for 11.59.99999999999999 hours incorrect
2
Trump will not be President. But, much of these are riffs. He tries out new tunes. If anyone seems interested, he will play it a while longer. Novel approach. Makes for an interesting campaign. Also, attracts an odd assortment of voters. But, one cannot do,that sorta thing from the White House. I would like to see someone seek more reimbursement from the Europeans. So one tune appeals to me.
2
There are several reasons not to vote for Mr. Trump: his narcissism, his misogyny, his xenophobia, etc. etc. but his foreign policy is not one of them though he has not exactly articulated a coherent policy as yet. Nearly seventy years after the end of WWII and a couple of decades after the fall of communism, Mr. Cohen calls for the continuation of the same tired policies. It is time for a reassessment and while Mr. Trump may not be the best person to enunciate a new paradigm, I hope whoever gets elected does search for a new beginning and a fresh path for US foreign policy.
4
Trump knows nothing of the Bretton Woods construct that has kept the peace since WW2: that the US will allow the nations of the world to join us in prosperity through free trade under the protection of American military might. It has been a good deal for everyone, the US included.
2
With respect to Europe and Japan, we seem to do more than our share of the heavy lifting. Our alliances against Russia and Chine were structured when they were sources of ideologies of world revolution. Now they are just big countries advancing their interests in the traditional ways against smaller countries.
With respect to the Middle East, we have let ourselves be used by the Saudis, who continue to spread the poisonous fundamentalism that, with minor changes, produces suicide bombers. If the Islamic State tried to take over Saudi Arabia, any result would be bloody but better than the situation we have now. A civil war would force the Saudis to stop being the head warrior against Shiite and other apostates. A Saudi victory would weaken the Islamic State. An Islamic State takeover of Saudi Arabia would at least force clarity on a traditionally opaque region.
Thinking outside the envelope has its advantages.
With respect to the Middle East, we have let ourselves be used by the Saudis, who continue to spread the poisonous fundamentalism that, with minor changes, produces suicide bombers. If the Islamic State tried to take over Saudi Arabia, any result would be bloody but better than the situation we have now. A civil war would force the Saudis to stop being the head warrior against Shiite and other apostates. A Saudi victory would weaken the Islamic State. An Islamic State takeover of Saudi Arabia would at least force clarity on a traditionally opaque region.
Thinking outside the envelope has its advantages.
1
The whole world is a disorder, do we really have that much of a direction ?
All that the "reasonable" politicians can offer are prevarications, red lines that will be crossed.
All that the "reasonable" politicians can offer are prevarications, red lines that will be crossed.
1
Trump??? What about Cruz? I'm a heck-of-alot more concerned about him than I am of Trump, altho I can't stand the GOP anymore, no matter what, and am voting straight Democratic.
13
The more Trump is rightly called out, the more his know nothing enablers love it.
Facts are only a "liberal" conspiracy in their dim, persecuted world.
Facts are only a "liberal" conspiracy in their dim, persecuted world.
8
He might add that this rough episode in American democracy might be seen by leaders like those in China as evidence that democracy doesn't work and can create havoc.
3
The world is a very scary place with nuclear war more likely every day. I think that we, too, need a strong man (not a strong-man) in a tailored business suit to set things right in the world. I'm tired of people making fun of his orange hair. At least he has hair. This is the hour of Donald J. Trump to make America great again, and to create a new world order. The old world order is no longer possible, and is fading away.
1
It is interesting to see commenters saying Japan should stop relying on the US to keep them safe or they should spend more on defense. Do they understand why Japan's military is the way it is? Remember WWII? Japan's limited military was dictated by the Allies. For a reason. People say, oh, that was 70 years ago. That was a WORLD war the likes of which today's generations couldn't imagine. People are foolish foolish to think this could never happen again. This is a good reason to make sure Trump is not elected. Listening to Trump, he certainly doesn't believe it, but America is still the most powerful country on earth. Let's try to stay on the right side of history.
5
Hasn't anyone on West 43rd Street figured out that the six to nine hit pieces every single day have fueled the rise of Donald Trump? The Republicans are in the process of committing institutional suicide in their pitiful efforts to deny Trump his day in the sun. Both parties are an embarrassment to their members, who are finally opening their eyes to the realization that they have been sold down the river to the 1%.
8
For decades, the politically correct have been declaring that the United States should not be the policeman of the world. Both parties have mimicked this talismanic phrase, but Democrats have been especially virulent in their objections to American interventions. Now, we have a likely major party nominee who is genuinely threatening to end America's assertive role that has made the world a better place. Trump is just the logical extension of the decades of misguided and naïve criticism of a forceful American presence in the world. America must police the world, because otherwise the Putins and Mullahs will impose their dark visions on the world or will sow chaos.
2
I guess it really is true that history repeats itself and every empire eventually dies out. Emperor Trump may just be the first spark in that downward trend.
3
Let's suppose the worst. Will Trump need to put his business dealings and assets into a blind trust? Think that be the deal breaker? I'm serious, haven't seen this issue addressed.
2
Isn't it possible to recognize the absurdity of Trump's junior high understanding of the world, while not advocating an alternative model of interventionism that insists upon the maintenance of a multi-trillion dollar global police force that asserts its power at the will of every American corporate interest? Can't we still be active in the world while reconsidering the current costs (both to our finances, our credibility, and our position as a moral actor on the global stage)? Trump will never get my vote, but that doesn't mean one can see no need to take a critical inventory of our current approach to global affairs?
6
We are a Nation with the Freedom of Speech;
Let us not lose our Power to Think;
Let us rise again,
United as one People under the Red, Blue and White.
Let us take back our Country from Idols, False prophets and
Unholy men for the sake of America and for all of us who care.
Thank you, Mr. Cohen, once again for writing.
Let us not lose our Power to Think;
Let us rise again,
United as one People under the Red, Blue and White.
Let us take back our Country from Idols, False prophets and
Unholy men for the sake of America and for all of us who care.
Thank you, Mr. Cohen, once again for writing.
1
Yes, war in Estonia or the East China Sea could be a bad deal...that said, however, Trump is bringing up some really important issues here. What about the fact that many other countries rely on the U.S. military while meanwhile providing decent domestic safety nets for their people - while we do not? What about the fact that we have farmed out our manufacturing base, leaving many with no work and in despair, while many other countries have not permitted this to happen to their citizens? Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have tapped into real angst and anxiety in our nation, and one of them, having served in Congress for over 25 years, has some solid ideas about how to level the playing field. Feel the Bern.
5
Mr. Trump speaks a lot of truths, including forbidden ones, alas mostly hidden beneath the theatrics. The United States' supremacy (or as Cohen calls it the world order since 1945) isn't real, was never earned, nor deserved, so it must either be pure luck, or God's will.
The difference between a classic empire and the US is, that the old ones have built things that are still with us. The US on the other hand doesn't build anything: it destroys.
Sad, really.
The difference between a classic empire and the US is, that the old ones have built things that are still with us. The US on the other hand doesn't build anything: it destroys.
Sad, really.
1
The funny thing is the more neocons-globalizers-warmongers, like Mr. Cohen, attack Tramp, the more reasonable he looks to a common person. I do not know if he can buy a better endorsement than a series of hysterical anti-Trump columns in NYT. They still don't get it, poor clueless chaps. They expect to scare us away from Trump by war in Estonia? Estonia, really? They can have wars in Estonia every week for the next hundred years, as long as USA is not a part of it, for all I care.
4
Hm. I care. My relatives still live in Estonia's neighbor, Lithuania, and war in that region is not good for anyone except (maybe) for Vladimir Putin, and probably not even for him.
Trump understands that the US must acknowledge its economic peril. We here in Canada are also in peril, but we can do little with our massive debt (10% of that of America, consistent with our population size) until the US does. Do something, US!!!
P. H. Wiebe
Vancouver BC
P. H. Wiebe
Vancouver BC
trump has a raging case of dunning-kruger syndrome.
1
It's the liberal and right wing elite who gave us Trump. The working man/woman knows they have been led down a blind alley while liberal elites and the corporate upper class got away with pushing trade deals that lowered wages and exported jobs. America is weak because the class of people who fought its wars and built its infrastructor is slowly drowning. Nothing in the political playbook of the hidden power structure seems to be capable of stopping Trump. One can't run TV ads, telling a drowning person they're not and expect them to believe you.
Thank you America's elite! You ignored, scored and looked down your nose at the working class and that is what gave us Trump.
Thank you America's elite! You ignored, scored and looked down your nose at the working class and that is what gave us Trump.
3
Before the stock market crash in 2008, many, many people were living on borrowed money. For example, people would re-finance their home equity loans every year to finance their shopping sprees or basic needs. Since the crash, the party with borrowed money has been over. People have to live on what they earn, which is often not enough for people to maintain the standard of living that they would like, or that they are told they should have. Now people are unhappy so they vote for a very dangerous demagogue like Trump. Trump offers easy answers - the same way the addiction to all that pre-2008 easy money did. But most if not all of the "answers" Trump gives are rants which have no basis in reality.
4
Trump's lack of understanding on foreign policy was more than apparent long before this interview, but it was effective in revealing the depth of his ignorance. What disturbs me about the interview is not its substance; it is the fact that it will change the views of his supporters toward him not one whit.
2
From the NY Times interview with Trump: "Asked about the briefings he receives and books he has read on foreign policy, Mr. Trump said his main information source was newspapers, “including yours.”
Let's hope he reads your columns, Mr. Cohen, and gets something useful from it.
Let's hope he reads your columns, Mr. Cohen, and gets something useful from it.
2
Trump does not seem to think things through or think too much altogether. Oops. Will he send some thugs out to attack me for saying that?
Trump is a serial failure as a builder and sustained developer. Aggressively ignorant, he would be a disaster as a domestic or world leader, because like Bush 2, he expects that someone else will always come around to clean up his failures. Like Bush 2, he would be eaten alive by Putin and not even know it. Like Bush 2, he would wreak havoc here and in the rest of the world. We can't afford another disaster-making buffoon on that scale.
2
Europeans need to wake up and starting tackling their own problems without always looking to America for the heavy lifting, Trump or no Trump.
Americans need to shake off their social media stupor and sign up for fast-track remedial courses in basic civics, starting with a grade school explanation of the Constitution's separation of powers. Congress, not the president, enacts laws and enables reforms, and the current Congress is dumber and more dysfunctional than any seen in any of our lifetimes, Trump or no Trump.
Americans need to shake off their social media stupor and sign up for fast-track remedial courses in basic civics, starting with a grade school explanation of the Constitution's separation of powers. Congress, not the president, enacts laws and enables reforms, and the current Congress is dumber and more dysfunctional than any seen in any of our lifetimes, Trump or no Trump.
5
Another Trump denying column! You still don't get it!
2
What's to get? The Americans have single-handedly resurrected the Know-Nothing party of the 1800s, thanks to their unhappiness with the status quo and "Washington insiders."
Great insight by Cohen. He has proved that contrary to Trump's opinion, NATO still has a huge role to play, and that Putin is trying to wield power. These are sensitive issues facing the world today.
Finally Trump or no trump, let's deal with the issues at hand and get them right. Unity is powerful.
Finally Trump or no trump, let's deal with the issues at hand and get them right. Unity is powerful.
2
I read Trump's interview with the NYT. Trumps ignorance in foreign policy was expected even by his own followers. The media pundits, and most politicians have yet to figured out that Issues will not be dispositive in this election. This election will be decided on visceral issues.This election is going to be about tribal loyalties and is the reason Trump can't win.Ironically it was Trump, who by fanning racial and misogynistic passions sealed his own fate. The black,latino,and female tribes are anti-trump.The white male tribe is pro Trump. It's just that simple,Trump loses.All the pseudo intellectual speculation about policies or facts are irrelevant. This one's is about primal instincts and protecting the tribe.
1
Every child in America should be required to learn chess. Then when they learn a little international reality they may be able to think a few steps ahead, instead of thinking they can win the game in one move. Clearly Trump never learned chess.
On a note of levity, Tory472, while Chess may be regarded as a philosophy, a late parent of mine was still winning the game in full dementia. True, she would get her sides mixed up at times, confuse the Reds for the Whites. America is having a melt-down, some of us are confused and worried, feeling under the weather and not at our best.
This American wants a President. We have brave men and women fighting wars to ensure peace on our behalf. It is possible that our detractors are just as baffled when it comes to Trump. We can not afford the time to learn our international history now. Our Country may fall apart under Emperor Trump, or have a Revolution to address the Enemy Within Us.
In the meantime, we may be witnessing the dawn of WWIII, the one Einstein could not predict. All this is reminiscent of a sinister novel by Huxley. Let us not surrender our Country to a rich dimwit, or a dangerous crocodile. It is an uphill battle to unite, but I believe we will prevail as the greatest Nation on earth if we try, and do not cry 'My Kingdom for a Horse'.
This American wants a President. We have brave men and women fighting wars to ensure peace on our behalf. It is possible that our detractors are just as baffled when it comes to Trump. We can not afford the time to learn our international history now. Our Country may fall apart under Emperor Trump, or have a Revolution to address the Enemy Within Us.
In the meantime, we may be witnessing the dawn of WWIII, the one Einstein could not predict. All this is reminiscent of a sinister novel by Huxley. Let us not surrender our Country to a rich dimwit, or a dangerous crocodile. It is an uphill battle to unite, but I believe we will prevail as the greatest Nation on earth if we try, and do not cry 'My Kingdom for a Horse'.
1
Yes Americans see that politics as usual produces disastrous results. Change means doing, not clogging up the wheels of government- Tea Party style. And in the great here and now Trump intends change; not just flowery speechifying sentiment.
So Trump is this and Trump is that but Donald Trump does not care at all what you or I or anyone else thinks. He carries on conversations with himself and, I suspect, his "advisors" are mere beards for his very strong brain. I am beginning to wonder if he has a severe case of affluenza and is a candidate for in-patient treatment.
3
The Times' US defense OpEds are rarely so off base as Mr. Cohen is. While NATO probably is still a useful institution, the North American Treaty Organization is a European insititution funded by America and is a key consumer of US defense materials, making it important economically, not militarily. The expansion of NATO that stumbled on the steppes of the Ukraine prevented a more robust response to Russian aggression. It may have deterred aggression against the Baltic states, but it proved useless in the most consequential US-Russian confrontation of this century. Japan, on the other hand, has heard at least three of its prime ministers claim the right to build or obtain nuclear weapons, and despite our objections it is highly likely they will obtain them within a generation. The same is less true of South Korea, but its need, given proximity to North Korea, is much more immediate and far greater. Mr. Cohen, hoping to damage Mr. Trump's limited reputation for foreign policy acumen, has misled your readers in service of partisan aims and at the expense of a realistic foreign policy. (The author is the former chairman of the Committee to Stop Japanese Re-Armament)..
The way the Democrats see it (read any comment in this paper) if you are unsure of your choice or even thinking of Trump as a viable candidate for President you are stupid, have no world view, a racist, a misogynist or just a garden variety bigot. I may have missed a few of the "names."
Ironically these are the tolerant people, your friends, who just want you to join them and vote for their choice because they know so much more than you do!
Ironically these are the tolerant people, your friends, who just want you to join them and vote for their choice because they know so much more than you do!
1
I have an idea. Maybe we need to get off our collective liberal-elite or conservative-elite high horses and, maybe, talk to Trump's constituents and find out what is going on in their lives and why they perceive that they are getting screwed -- because, maybe they are actually getting the raw end of the deal and they are sick of it. So instead of looking down on them and calling them ignorant and racist (which they deeply resent, BTW), maybe work with them to create solutions whereby they feel included. Trump is the only one addressing their concerns about free trade, immigration and economic insecurity. If we keep blowing them off, Trump, in fact, may prevail.
4
The most interesting thing Mr. Trump said in his Times interview is that he gets his knowledge of the world partly from this newspaper. I therefore address this to him directly:
Donald,
You have, in your own way, brought some issues to the fore that need to be there, such as the terrible Republican plans to privatize Social Security and gut Medicare. Thank you for that. You are shrewd enough to know that you are not qualified to be president, and would be hopelessly over your head in that role. So, after you've amassed enough delegates for bragging rights, please withdraw your candidacy, and announce that you've accomplished what you really wanted to do.
As you would say, am I right or what?
Donald,
You have, in your own way, brought some issues to the fore that need to be there, such as the terrible Republican plans to privatize Social Security and gut Medicare. Thank you for that. You are shrewd enough to know that you are not qualified to be president, and would be hopelessly over your head in that role. So, after you've amassed enough delegates for bragging rights, please withdraw your candidacy, and announce that you've accomplished what you really wanted to do.
As you would say, am I right or what?
5
Trump has absolutely none of the gravitas, reflection or skills to be the commander-in-chief of the world's most powerful military, but he sometimes exhibits a politically incorrect logic one can't deny. Why should we shoulder so much of the financial burden of policing the world and defending other wealthy countries like Japan and Germany? Our military budget is larger than that of something like the next seven nations combined; I'd like to see some fraction of that money spent restoring our lousy infrastructure. And yes, demand that Saudi Arabia contribute more to restabilize the Middle East, an area their active promotion of Salafism does nothing to calm. We can't do it all nor should we.
2
Why don't we leave everything in place and just cancel some of the debts we owe foreign governments as a means of funding their protection?
Otherwise with $19 trillion in debt, the US Goverment may have to consider curtailing the actives Mr. Cohen describes as a means of reining in the debt increases approved by both the Bush and Obama Administrations.
Overseas countries will not continue to loan us money so that we can provide for their protection at no cost to them.
Otherwise with $19 trillion in debt, the US Goverment may have to consider curtailing the actives Mr. Cohen describes as a means of reining in the debt increases approved by both the Bush and Obama Administrations.
Overseas countries will not continue to loan us money so that we can provide for their protection at no cost to them.
Cohen is wrong.
Americans do want "business as usual" when they earned a reasonable share of the wealth and their kids had a secure future if they worked hard.
Just how many decades the working class white folks would take the pernicious GOP trickle down wallet whipping was the open question.
Trump just exposed the game and the GOP establishment got called out.
Hillary with her several hundred million Wall Street payday looks too shady to trust which leaves them only Donald as their champ who at least lacks the load of a failed Iraq War as her claim to be have presidential creds.
The Bern may catch on fire yet.
Americans do want "business as usual" when they earned a reasonable share of the wealth and their kids had a secure future if they worked hard.
Just how many decades the working class white folks would take the pernicious GOP trickle down wallet whipping was the open question.
Trump just exposed the game and the GOP establishment got called out.
Hillary with her several hundred million Wall Street payday looks too shady to trust which leaves them only Donald as their champ who at least lacks the load of a failed Iraq War as her claim to be have presidential creds.
The Bern may catch on fire yet.
4
Where Trump is involved, nothing surprises me, which doesn't mean that I think we can laugh office his dangerous ignorance and arrogance. For reasons I am unable to fathom, despite the efforts of very intelligent insightful commentators and journalists, he has a solid and apparently growing body of support among some voters. In some ways, that fact is scarier than Trump himself, since even if he doesn't win the nomination or the presidency, we seem to have a large number of people who are citizens who seem ready to tear up everything rational as well as decent that has made America a country to be admired and respected. I have nightmares about where this is heading!
4
I don't know if Trump is as delusional as he sounds or whether he simply realizes that his supporters want illusion because reality hasn't worked very well for them. Unfortunately, reality is all we get to work with. We can work to mold reality but we cannot run from it because wherever we turn, its there.
3
From the moment I saw Trump's supporters render the straight arm salute, I suspected that he might favor pre-1945 world order rather than post-1945.
4
Trump's whole frame of reference is purely monetary. He would also make the U.S. Military, one of our finest institutions, into a mercenary force, for sale to the highest bidder. He is ignorant of our history & importance in supplying stability to global enterprises of all types.
1
Trump wants to stop hand outs to other countries and for them to carry their own weight. Sanders gives us the birdie and yells "No more wars !"
Trump or Sanders - I can't wait for their new world disorder.
Trump or Sanders - I can't wait for their new world disorder.
2
President "Bobby": Mr. Gardner, do you agree with Ben, or do you think that we can stimulate growth through temporary incentives?
[Long pause]
Chance the Gardener: As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.
President "Bobby": In the garden.
Chance the Gardener: Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.
President "Bobby": Spring and summer.
Chance the Gardener: Yes.
President "Bobby": Then fall and winter.
Chance the Gardener: Yes.
Benjamin Rand: I think what our insightful young friend is saying is that we welcome the inevitable seasons of nature, but we're upset by the seasons of our economy.
Chance the Gardener: Yes! There will be growth in the spring!
Benjamin Rand: Hmm!
Chance the Gardener: Hmm!
President "Bobby": Hm. Well, Mr. Gardner, I must admit that is one of the most refreshing and optimistic statements I've heard in a very, very long time.
[Benjamin Rand applauds]
President "Bobby": I admire your good, solid sense. That's precisely what we lack on Capitol Hill.
1
Giving Trump supporters the benefit of the doubt, I take them at their word that they seek a new vision of government, free of the gridlock imposed by those long-standing political bosses within the Republican Party. That part of the political establishment needs fixing, it is clear and I agree. At the same time, change for the sake of change brings a high degree of uncertainty and risk which they either discount or seem not to have seriously considered. Trump's simplistic and grandiose views of the America and the rest of the world are not only false, but deeply terrifying to anyone who does not live and breathe Fox news and its sensationalist reporting. Republicans have no one else to blame but themselves for the lack of critical thinking on the part of their base as they have encouraged and breed a cottage industry of media shock jocks such as Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and the like. (even condescendingly referring to the base as "dittoheads") As always, the devil lies in the details, but Trump simply refuses to elaborate on what his policies will actually look like. Perhaps he has none to offer and is just making it up as he goes. An enlightened electorate would demand far more than vague promises of greatness and a "trust me" approach.
3
As per Iran, Iraq, Lybia , etc. we no longer control the worl or know to to fashion it. Trump in his withdrawal from world affairs might be on to something . Hillary Clinton has Kissinger as her foreign policy guru; Trump, his own mind and that might be light years ahead of Kissinger/Clinton. Best bet for a sane world vote Sanders.
4
Trump has no clue as to what America actually represents: diplomacy backed by military ability. Without America's global military presence the world is a much more dangerous place. He only perceives in the prism of dollars and cents. Decades of diplomatic effort by a multitude of countries as a continuing solution is flippantly dismissed by Trump. Seeking the presidency of the United States requires a more than subtle hint of the nuance necessary to lead this country globally. And nuance is not defined the use of threatening tactics. Trump's ignorance or disregard for historical precedence is unfathomable. It is perfectly clear that Trump is ill qualified to be the next American president.
2
One right message, but definitely the wrong messenger. Donald Trump is a dangerous man and unqualified to be POTUS, but he has one big idea right: the U.S. cannot and should not be the world's policeman. It is a thankless and ultimately doomed undertaking.
Mr. Cohen, as usual, equates Pres. Obama's non-interventionism with decline. The flip side of that argument is that non-intervention preserves our power. And American lives. Mr. Trump's implied suggestion that the world is not worth saving is spot on.
Mr. Cohen, as usual, equates Pres. Obama's non-interventionism with decline. The flip side of that argument is that non-intervention preserves our power. And American lives. Mr. Trump's implied suggestion that the world is not worth saving is spot on.
1
Mr. Cohen, your very poignant article use some very big words such as Pax Americana, Minsk peace process, NATO, Baltic States, postwar stability, and trans-Atlantic cooperation that, I'm afraid, may be too complicated for Mr Chump to understand. Please, for the sake of simplicity, try using smaller words with much less complicated concepts. Thank you.
Trump seems to have some personality disorder. He is stuck in an extreme 'bully syndrome' that may have worked fine for real estate deals, but is absolutely contraindicated in any political function. A Trump presidency would amount to a collective declaration of insanity from a majority of the world's most powerful country's population. What about the endless conflict of interest between his coveted presidential function and his US and worldwide assets? If he got there, he probably would be impeached within days of his (unthinkable) inauguration. I predict that any running democrat nominated will win the election by a landslide.
1
During Trump's Real Estate days in New York City , due to his bad deals, he had a nickname: DUMB TRUMP
3
Isolationism tends to magnify the problems when they inevitably occur. After 9/11, it was with the help of many allies that so many terrorist targets were hit (and continue to be hit under President Obama).
I've been thinking lately that with the terrorism challenges in Europe now, it is even more critical that NATO play a strong support role (along with Interpol). The individual countries cannot deal with a threat of this magnitude.
Trump is simply ignorant, but he did pursue that non-existent Kenyan birth certificate for years so he is capable of longterm delusions.
I've been thinking lately that with the terrorism challenges in Europe now, it is even more critical that NATO play a strong support role (along with Interpol). The individual countries cannot deal with a threat of this magnitude.
Trump is simply ignorant, but he did pursue that non-existent Kenyan birth certificate for years so he is capable of longterm delusions.
3
One of the many things that bothers me about the Trump campaign is so many people who think "I like a guy who says what he thinks...and he won't really be able to do any harm if he does get elected". How did we get so many obtuse people in this country?
4
Yeah, Trump would be a disaster. A kind of disorganized disaster. But he might not get in - if the GOP has anything to say about it. And an even worse disaster would be Cruz. Now there's the makings of a very shrewd, ruthless tyrant. Trump is a would be Benito; he's got the pout and outthrust jaw to go with it. But Cruz reminds me of old Joe, the Georgian. Now there was a customer. An even bigger danger is the American electorate - or at least a hefty chunk of it.
2
Roger Cohen is arguing for the status quo to be maintained. But the status quo gave birth to Trump. Does Roger not see the contradiction in his argument?
Cohen's attempt to discredit Trump is not terribly effective, as Trump is not so far off in many of his assertions. For example, in saying that Germany was "not much involved" Trump correctly surmised that Merkel's close ties to Putin have actually dampened her ability to really confront his aggression.
Likewise with Saudi Arabia, Trump is not saying that the US would actually abandon it's sometime ally, so much as that the US must confront the Saudis in a substantial way about their role in stirring up trouble in the Middle East. Without threats, change won't happen.
Trump's style is simple and unintellectual, which puts many people off. He is sometimes a boor and a clown; but he is also bent on shaking up a political system that very few Americans have any faith in anymore. Who believes that Clinton would do anything but buttress a failing status quo?
Likewise with Saudi Arabia, Trump is not saying that the US would actually abandon it's sometime ally, so much as that the US must confront the Saudis in a substantial way about their role in stirring up trouble in the Middle East. Without threats, change won't happen.
Trump's style is simple and unintellectual, which puts many people off. He is sometimes a boor and a clown; but he is also bent on shaking up a political system that very few Americans have any faith in anymore. Who believes that Clinton would do anything but buttress a failing status quo?
I can't recall a time when I was more scared of someone actually having a chance at being elected President as I am now. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz both scare me. I can't imagine a greater catastrophe than either one being elected as POTUS.
4
Whoa Pilgrim. the world today is pretty much in disarray thanks to generations of political and diplomatic incompetence, feigned or otherwise by establishment leaders and wonks. When one can't travel overseas and not be fearful of being killed in a European capital, enough is enough.
Moneyed interests have sold out America, lock, stock and barrel for bigger profits at the expense of American sovereignty, jobs and safety.
Trump is correct. Let's just hope he isn't just another Trojan Horse baying
more of the same.
Moneyed interests have sold out America, lock, stock and barrel for bigger profits at the expense of American sovereignty, jobs and safety.
Trump is correct. Let's just hope he isn't just another Trojan Horse baying
more of the same.
Because Donald Trump has NEVER been a politician he can change his mind on a dime after the primary. He can demand Universal Health Care . He can demand 20 dollar an hour wage for all those at the bottom . Who needs Nato when he unites Putin with all of Europe and all the Middle east falls in line so we can prepare to make distance from the rising dragon from the sea that doesn't share power with the rif raf because the see they can become Almighty rulers in the world by way first through civil wars hot wars threats of nuclear bombs by way of North Korea with so many threats no one believes they are real until it is too late
or perhaps he's just stupid . After this primary we shall see
or perhaps he's just stupid . After this primary we shall see
1
This article reminded me of another I read in February:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-advisor-idUSMTZSAPE...
The whole situation gives me great pause.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-advisor-idUSMTZSAPE...
The whole situation gives me great pause.
1
John Donne had wisdom which condemns Trump's encouragement of selfish isolationism. We are in a world where more than ever we need to treat each other as human, rather than objects:
No man is an island
Entire of himself
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
Perhaps the Eurocentrism is inappropriate, but remember this was written about 500 years ago. We do well to regard the world's wisdom; united we stand; divided we fall.
No man is an island
Entire of himself
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
Perhaps the Eurocentrism is inappropriate, but remember this was written about 500 years ago. We do well to regard the world's wisdom; united we stand; divided we fall.
28
LIsten to Bernie Sanders answering a question on his 'religeous belief'. He says virtually the same as John Donne. Please, vote for Sanders if you want to put your vote where your wisdom is!
1
@ Susan - Susan you are back! Donne's poem goes well with my comment (no 2 in readers' recommends), which closes by noting that Trump as president will not only have obvious adverse consequences for my first country, USA, but also unintended (or Trump intended) consequences also adverse for my second, Sweden, and for Europe.
Larry
Larry
If Trump were to do what he says to a credulous press that he will do, then he’d be wrong for doing it. In order to support stability in the world, there is no substitute for a forward-leaning U.S. and a prohibitive military. A smart person would set a target for incrementally greater involvement by other powers, such as Europe, such as Japan, such as Arab Sunni allies; but Europe at least cannot do so quickly without massively redirecting resources from its social safety nets – and that could result in blood in the streets.
The alternative, if Trump means what he says, is that much of the world increasingly will come under the influence of strong-men, buccaneers and religious fanatics to whom human life means nothing.
It’s awfully tempting to tell the world to go fish, but it’s a childish and irresponsible action to take. What’s more, it’s not in our own strategic interests – tens of millions of American jobs depend on trade, which in turn depends on minimally acceptable global stability. Take away relative stability within our markets and suppliers and you take away the jobs.
Nobody really knows what Trump truly thinks, or what he says merely to gin up votes. But Fortress America and a continuation or even an intensification of President Obama’s general global disengagement would be a very big mistake.
The alternative, if Trump means what he says, is that much of the world increasingly will come under the influence of strong-men, buccaneers and religious fanatics to whom human life means nothing.
It’s awfully tempting to tell the world to go fish, but it’s a childish and irresponsible action to take. What’s more, it’s not in our own strategic interests – tens of millions of American jobs depend on trade, which in turn depends on minimally acceptable global stability. Take away relative stability within our markets and suppliers and you take away the jobs.
Nobody really knows what Trump truly thinks, or what he says merely to gin up votes. But Fortress America and a continuation or even an intensification of President Obama’s general global disengagement would be a very big mistake.
11
Wait, I can hear it off in the distance. Something never seen before folks, is that Mr. Luettgen preparing to admit:
I was wrong
I was wrong about Jeb
I was wrong about T***.....
oh, sorry, false alarm.
Moderators - please here this with a kind, tongue in cheek tone. Many commenters are waiting with baited breath....
I was wrong
I was wrong about Jeb
I was wrong about T***.....
oh, sorry, false alarm.
Moderators - please here this with a kind, tongue in cheek tone. Many commenters are waiting with baited breath....
1
Are you serious?! In your comment you indicate Europe can not rapidly redirect resources to military defense from social security implementations without governance instability. Isn't the reverse exactly the occurrence in OUR nation!! The electorate is demanding a reallocation, and diminishment, of the overseas American military footprint for financial resources to be used for the country's internal needs. Very likely, this election is an indication of our own acute division. And undoubtedly, it will intensify.
3
"Nobody really knows what Trump truly thinks, or what he says merely to gin up votes"
Did you bother reading the editorial before you gratuitously attacked Obama?
Did you bother reading the editorial before you gratuitously attacked Obama?
1
The West missed a wonderful opportunity when the Soviet Union collapsed, and with it the very reason for NATO's existence. Instead of being dissolved, NATO was eventually expanded it up to Russia's borders. What could have been more of a provocation? It was a direct invitation for Russia become more nationalistic instead of more European, and guaranteed the rise of Putin or someone like him.
Roger may be right that the Baltic states look to NATO for protection against Russia, but I doubt if they would have had reason to feel as vulnerable had NATO vanished from the scene.
The United States would never tolerate a potentially hostile military alliance at or near its borders. I suspect that Russia shows more forbearance, given that the closest since WWII that we have come to nuclear war unfolded in our very own hemisphere in 1962.
I don't trust Trump's instincts either at home or overseas, but he is at least right about NATO in the sense that it SHOULD have become obsolete. Unfortunately, extending its life beyond its logical expiration date has contributed to the very threat that it now supposedly guards against. NATO on Russia's doorstep is an accident waiting to happen and, frankly, I wouldn't know how best to avoid it.
Roger may be right that the Baltic states look to NATO for protection against Russia, but I doubt if they would have had reason to feel as vulnerable had NATO vanished from the scene.
The United States would never tolerate a potentially hostile military alliance at or near its borders. I suspect that Russia shows more forbearance, given that the closest since WWII that we have come to nuclear war unfolded in our very own hemisphere in 1962.
I don't trust Trump's instincts either at home or overseas, but he is at least right about NATO in the sense that it SHOULD have become obsolete. Unfortunately, extending its life beyond its logical expiration date has contributed to the very threat that it now supposedly guards against. NATO on Russia's doorstep is an accident waiting to happen and, frankly, I wouldn't know how best to avoid it.
17
Well, that's just like uh, your opinion man.
actually, we came just as close to nuclear war in 1983 when the ussr decided a korean airliner was a spy plane. the problem is that russia is paranoid, that they view the whole outside world as hostile, and it is not nato that is the accident waiting to happen.
1
Sure... Russia retreats into a quiet presence when NATO isn't on their doorstep. Have you listened to Putin? Seen Russia's involvement in Syria? Read their history of non-aggression (sarcasm)? You need a remedial class in Russian history. Seriously. There's a lot you don't know or you're hopelessly naive.
2
I read, "Cohen is against him. I'm voting for Trump." Friends, the enemy of your enemy (if that is truly Trump, which I doubt) may not be your friend. He may be your other enemy.
11
Thomas Zaslavsky - "...the enemy of your enemy (if that is truly Trump, which I doubt) may not be your friend. He may be your other enemy."
The evidence may point in an entirely different direction. The Republican establishment hates him. The Democratic establishment hates him. Both of these establishments are completely responsible for the present condition of the US today, which we all agree could be much better.
With the presumptive Democratic nominee we have been assured of "more of the same" if she can put her "investigative" problem behind her. With Trump there is a chance things will be better for middle income Americans. Sometimes just a chance is better than no chance at all!
The evidence may point in an entirely different direction. The Republican establishment hates him. The Democratic establishment hates him. Both of these establishments are completely responsible for the present condition of the US today, which we all agree could be much better.
With the presumptive Democratic nominee we have been assured of "more of the same" if she can put her "investigative" problem behind her. With Trump there is a chance things will be better for middle income Americans. Sometimes just a chance is better than no chance at all!
Dear Roger Cohen, I recommend that you and your Op-Ed colleagues chill out for a bit. Trump has become more and more wild with his outlandish statements but do we really believe that he will act on it? There's a better chance of him building resorts in Saudi Arabia, Cuba and elsewhere and put his name on it, or better still somebody else will build it and he'll brand it.
What other choice is there, Hillary Clinton? Its just more of the same Establishment oriented policies from her. She talks the Progressive talk but when the time comes to buckle down and get something done she goes with the big boys. The nexus between politicians and big money has to be broken or at least weakened so the rest of us have a voice in Washington.
We depend on NYT columnists as being part of the Newspaper of Record but when most of you are lock step behind Hillary it gets me worried. Why are you all for Hillary? Bernie, even though he's been a public figure for a long time, is a breath of fresh air compared to HRC and yet he can't seem to get the time of day with NYT, shame on all of you.
What other choice is there, Hillary Clinton? Its just more of the same Establishment oriented policies from her. She talks the Progressive talk but when the time comes to buckle down and get something done she goes with the big boys. The nexus between politicians and big money has to be broken or at least weakened so the rest of us have a voice in Washington.
We depend on NYT columnists as being part of the Newspaper of Record but when most of you are lock step behind Hillary it gets me worried. Why are you all for Hillary? Bernie, even though he's been a public figure for a long time, is a breath of fresh air compared to HRC and yet he can't seem to get the time of day with NYT, shame on all of you.
40
So many Trump supporters say that he doesn't really mean all the crazy things that he says or threatens. And that in a general election or after election, his ideas will look more real. At the same time, these same supporters say what attracts them to Trump is that he says what he means. There seems to be a real disconnect here, a cognitive dissonance on several layers.
Hillary Clinton is one of the few reality based candidates around. I watched that Bernie rally recently when all these young people were shouting "We believe in Bernie!", and I shuddered. It was too much like children shouting, "We believe in you, Tinkerbell!" Fantasy is as fantasy does, and a Republican Congress will never pass universal health care or free college or raise taxes a trillion dollars a year.
Hillary Clinton is one of the few reality based candidates around. I watched that Bernie rally recently when all these young people were shouting "We believe in Bernie!", and I shuddered. It was too much like children shouting, "We believe in you, Tinkerbell!" Fantasy is as fantasy does, and a Republican Congress will never pass universal health care or free college or raise taxes a trillion dollars a year.
So: we should trust him because he lies to us?
You may not like Hillary, but if you compare what Trump would do with what Clinton has done, the choice is so easy. Clinton is, in fact, a diplomat, and a successful one at that. Part of making the world peaceful is actually getting along with, rather than fighting, people we don't like. Remember Nixon opening relations with China? These kinds of approaches can and do work. Trump is a narcissistic crazy man who has an inflated sense of himself. Clinton is actually reasonable.
1
The more I hear of Cohen's objections the weaker my opposition to Trump grows. Now if he would just quit waffling about being neutral on Israel..
14
Anyone who claims to be neutral on Israel is lying.
Three weeks before W. Bush’s election for a second term in 2004, his Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl Rove, chided Pulitzer-winning journalist, Ron Suskind. Rove said:
Guys like [Suskind] were “in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who “believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” … “That’s not the way the world really works anymore,” he continued. “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
This is the backstory of "a real rip-off for all humanity' that is unfolding now.
Guys like [Suskind] were “in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who “believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” … “That’s not the way the world really works anymore,” he continued. “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
This is the backstory of "a real rip-off for all humanity' that is unfolding now.
66
I think Rove was not really speaking to but through Suskind to the donors he defrauded with his strategy to guarantee forty years of Republican Party hegemony. He had to come up with some cockamemy scheme to keep the so-called donors donating and keep himself performing in the Fox News Follies.
Mr. Trump should read a book. NATO is why the Pacific looks like it does with American, French, British, Australian interests well-ensconced. Japan and Germany were pushed out as part of the axis. We are supposed to be in the Pacific century. Um, go, Bernie, go.
16
To CMK: You obviously don't have a clue re Bernie's foreign policy. You only know he will give us universal health care and free college. He's not an emperor the repubs won't allow it. HRC tried universal health care and still has the scars. HRC has an educational plan that is doable. I love Bernie but it's a dream go Hillary
what?
One problem with most Trump interviews and I saw it in the transcript of the NYT foreign policy interview....NO follow-up to the long rambling answers he gives. The reporters must take notes and ask him, for example, about the "facts" he asserts or who some of his "friends" are who advise him or even the Palin question: what SPECIFIC books do you read? Follow up, follow up will expose this clown for the know-nothing that he is.
Trump is a fool and a liar; it can be hard to know which hat he is wearing as he rarely does in-person interviews. The NYT interviews were on the phone.
Anyway, his world view is best summed up, if it even can be summed up, with his reference to Saudi Arabia. Its disintegration will indeed make Syria look like a playground.
Trump is a fool and a liar; it can be hard to know which hat he is wearing as he rarely does in-person interviews. The NYT interviews were on the phone.
Anyway, his world view is best summed up, if it even can be summed up, with his reference to Saudi Arabia. Its disintegration will indeed make Syria look like a playground.
32
Bernie Sanders is looking better and better.
53
Yeah, instead electing a semi-fascist demagogue who spouts gibberish for foreign policy, let's elect a pie-in-the-sky Leftist demagogue, an apologist for Castro and the Sandinistas (talk about authoritarianism) who has no coherent foreign policy either other than "say no" and "build a coalition." Simple. Yes, he was right about the second Iraq War; a broken clock is of course correct twice a day.
Oh Jill, if only our illustrious NYT were to have supported Bernie in the same proportion as the people of the U.S.A. First 3%, and now, by far the candidate who best beats Trump!
I find it astounding that some commenters say things like; Well Trump's a little rough, but he has some good ideas. You mean like the blind squirrel stumbling over an acorn? Trump is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Countries think we've lost it, that he has any possibility of being elected.
Trump seems to be for everybody having their own nukes- that'll save us money. Get out of NATO to save some money. Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, he doesn't really have buildings there so who cares?
Read NYT and Washington Post interviews. He knows NOTHING about our role in the world. And he doesn't care. Electing a man so ignorant, whose advisors are largely right-wing retreads, to be the most powerful man in the world? That disaster simply can't happen.
Trump seems to be for everybody having their own nukes- that'll save us money. Get out of NATO to save some money. Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, he doesn't really have buildings there so who cares?
Read NYT and Washington Post interviews. He knows NOTHING about our role in the world. And he doesn't care. Electing a man so ignorant, whose advisors are largely right-wing retreads, to be the most powerful man in the world? That disaster simply can't happen.
171
Unless you served this country, you shouldn't be able to demand more US blood for policy.
Just look how the US has handled the middle east. Look what NATO did to Libya. Trump is right on this one.
Just look how the US has handled the middle east. Look what NATO did to Libya. Trump is right on this one.
He's rather like Howard Hughes during his last years, except that he insists on leaving the hotel.
1
Say it like it is S. Bliss! Your name would surely risk being shattered to smithereens should Trump sleep with the nuclear button beside his bed.
1
If the idea of Trump being our President does not frighten you, then you are as ignorant of the world as he is. Given his lack of understanding, I imagine that he will chose Sarah Palin as his running mate.
64
Which would be cheaper, Mr. Trump, to spend now to curtail Russian expansionism, or be forced later to launch a new D-day in the inevitable future to take back what he let happen by pulling the rug from under NATO? One would think that Trump would understand what "investment" means, but like many of his contemporary CEOs, he thinks only in terms of short term perceived gain. It is also shear fantasy to think that these short term gains would be used to benefit American education, science, or infrastructure. Perhaps he should check out the record of congressional republicans in this regard.
13
Once more: Trump does not invest. He scams.
18
I could not agreed more with your article . I just hope the economy keeps going as it is now until after the presidential election is over, in which case I believe would not be Trump the president, and the whole planet will be a winner. For I believed deeply that the whole future of humanity is at stake in this election . Trump will be the destruction of humanity as we know it for thousands years to come.
20
Yeah, but you know, we would save a lot of money should your worst fears be realized.
The fact that Roger Cohen dislikes Trump is the best argument for Trump I've seen in a long time.
7
And as Far as Mexico I say Send in a great army if their leaders do not resign being in bed with the terrorist dope dealers and exterminate all those dope dealers and make sure no one who runs in any election has had any contact with the Latin american drug lords
but I can change my mind hehehe
but I can change my mind hehehe
3
Cohen needs to stop pretending that Saudi Arabia doesn't have anything to do with the fear of the American electorate ( or that of Europe for that matter ) that is forcing them to buy into the likes of Trump to come rescue them. His obdurate refusal to acknowledge the menace that is Saudi Arabia is reducing whatever he has got to say as a completely irrelevant noise.
8
I believe Trump like Bernie are surprisingly popular with Americans because they actually propose changing the systemic malaise that's destroying the middle classes to the benefit of the tunnel visioned plutocrats. The fact that whoever is nominated and elected will fail to deliver doesn't make the oppressed any less hopeful. It's one of those eternal things.
11
Here is an example to illustrate a point, US governance system is based on checks and balances between the three branches, executive, legislative and judicial. Any system that has checks and balance at the core is a preferred and stable system, as most will agree.
Why not apply the same model to international world order? I.e. multi-polar system is far better than unipolar order which the article wants to advocate? Multi-polar system brings with it checks and balances that a unipolar system lacks. In my opinion all attempts to bring the entire planet under unipolar NATO is a recipe for destabilization or worse. It is far better to have a multi-polar world than unipolar one.
May be Mr. Donald would like to share his thoughts.
Why not apply the same model to international world order? I.e. multi-polar system is far better than unipolar order which the article wants to advocate? Multi-polar system brings with it checks and balances that a unipolar system lacks. In my opinion all attempts to bring the entire planet under unipolar NATO is a recipe for destabilization or worse. It is far better to have a multi-polar world than unipolar one.
May be Mr. Donald would like to share his thoughts.
3
Aside from the use of the verb "may" I don't agree that "American power and far-flung American garrisons may have underwritten global security and averted nuclear war for more than seven decades,"
It is difficult to think we, among all those nations who have nuclear weapons, are the only reasonable people on the planet.
The world appears as you say to be more combustible and it again "may" become a much more dangerous place, but.........
Mr Trump like Mr Sanders is exposing a desire for, if not the entrance of, change in the outmoded political game the other candidates and most of our politicians insist on playing.
Throughout the world the young among us know the accepted madness touted in commentaries such as this has to and "may" be about to stop.
The obvious crazies who are blowing up small groups of innocents in all parts of the world are breathing their last gasp. No reasonable person especially any under the age of thirty who has gotten a taste of life considers the insanity of earlier generations to be anything else but that....insane.
No one wants to go to heaven and even less want to die.
NATO is obsolete and so is Putin.
To think war will break out anywhere in an increasingly tolerant Europe is a delusion held by those who still live with the idea that men still rule which as most of us see is limited to the backwaters of the Middle East.
Trump isn't going to be elected and if the youth of our country has any say neither will Mrs Clinton which leaves..
It is difficult to think we, among all those nations who have nuclear weapons, are the only reasonable people on the planet.
The world appears as you say to be more combustible and it again "may" become a much more dangerous place, but.........
Mr Trump like Mr Sanders is exposing a desire for, if not the entrance of, change in the outmoded political game the other candidates and most of our politicians insist on playing.
Throughout the world the young among us know the accepted madness touted in commentaries such as this has to and "may" be about to stop.
The obvious crazies who are blowing up small groups of innocents in all parts of the world are breathing their last gasp. No reasonable person especially any under the age of thirty who has gotten a taste of life considers the insanity of earlier generations to be anything else but that....insane.
No one wants to go to heaven and even less want to die.
NATO is obsolete and so is Putin.
To think war will break out anywhere in an increasingly tolerant Europe is a delusion held by those who still live with the idea that men still rule which as most of us see is limited to the backwaters of the Middle East.
Trump isn't going to be elected and if the youth of our country has any say neither will Mrs Clinton which leaves..
8
I have heard several times from commentators that we need to disengage with fights against China, in the middle east and against Russia and saying NATO is kind of obsolete. But suddenly everybody is against it, because Trump said the same. The reaction is more like Trump than against his foreign policy which is kind of sad to see.
1
The Wolfowitz Doctrine of the 1990s assumed that the US aspired to become a global hegemon and would crush any country that got in its way. It is not clear if Trump still aspires to that role or just wants the allies to pick up a bigger share if the tab.
Recently. countries like Britain seem to have given up trying to support the US military, and are spending the money on other things. The Germans never really bothered to try. They are pacifists and there are limits to what their diplomacy can achieve.
Recently. countries like Britain seem to have given up trying to support the US military, and are spending the money on other things. The Germans never really bothered to try. They are pacifists and there are limits to what their diplomacy can achieve.
1
But, come on. Trump has to be right. After all, he is very rich and since money is all important, and the one true measure of man -- that's the American capitalist doctrine -- his wealth proves his worth and the worth of all of his ideas.
Of course, one could view capitalism differently. One could say that capitalists are just exceedingly deft liars. After all, what is the essence of the capitalistic act" The essence of the capitalistic act: To take a product worth 20 bucks and convince some shnook to pay 50 bucks for the item. As the Dept. of Psychology of Harvard said in 1968: The variable which correlates most strongly with the ability to make money is the ability to lie and look someone in the eye at the same time.
Of course, one could view capitalism differently. One could say that capitalists are just exceedingly deft liars. After all, what is the essence of the capitalistic act" The essence of the capitalistic act: To take a product worth 20 bucks and convince some shnook to pay 50 bucks for the item. As the Dept. of Psychology of Harvard said in 1968: The variable which correlates most strongly with the ability to make money is the ability to lie and look someone in the eye at the same time.
23
"To say NATO is obsolete — a view Moscow has been pressing since the end of the Cold War as a means to get the United States out of Europe — at a time when President Putin is determined to assert Russian power is dangerous folly. "
As Hillary said it would be Christmas in the Kremlin for Putin. What is so striking about Trump is his stupidity on world affaires. He is actually as ignorant as the lower educated people that support him. Perhaps that has been his greatest appeal all along.
As Hillary said it would be Christmas in the Kremlin for Putin. What is so striking about Trump is his stupidity on world affaires. He is actually as ignorant as the lower educated people that support him. Perhaps that has been his greatest appeal all along.
9
The GOP is the party of hypocrisy. Donald Trump proposes closing our military bases overseas and many on the right think he's come up with some great idea.
Now just imagine if Obama proposed the exact same thing. The cries of being weak and leading from behind would be at a fever pitch all through the halls of Faux News and right-wing radio.
Now just imagine if Obama proposed the exact same thing. The cries of being weak and leading from behind would be at a fever pitch all through the halls of Faux News and right-wing radio.
15
No one thinks its a good idea, both parties hate him for this.
The 1990 strategy for a "new World order" is what we are living in?
Who got us here? The enlightened foreign policy apparatus that brought us here - Bill Clinton and his "foreign policy" that his wife is now going to sort out for us?
Who got us here? The enlightened foreign policy apparatus that brought us here - Bill Clinton and his "foreign policy" that his wife is now going to sort out for us?
1
I enjoy your columns very much. Please remember, however, that whatever your nationality, you have the perspective of a European. You like it when wealth pours out of the US - in foreign spending, in military activity, in trade deficits, in companies moving overseas. The continual hollowing out of the actual US is of no concern to you.
Before you scold the US, please think about how you feel if the countries you love - France, Italy, England, etc - were slowly being eaten away as the US currently is.
Before you scold the US, please think about how you feel if the countries you love - France, Italy, England, etc - were slowly being eaten away as the US currently is.
7
And what about the enormous wealth flowing into the United states as investment by individuals and corporations? The US is not being hollowed out. Those who say so are either ignorant (you) or liars (Trump).
2
The US has been 'eaten away' by the terrible policies of (mostly) the GOP over the last 30 years that have resulted in unprecedented riches for the .001% and not least by the disastrous wars the US started in the Middle East. Trillions of dollars of 'foreign spending', especially military, has disappeared directly into the yawning pockets of giant American weapons manufacturers like United Technologies, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, etc. and corporations like Halliburton, General Electric, Blackwater and 1000s of others. I'm glad Donald Trump has come along and in a way predicted by no one, blown up the GOP and the 2016 elections. We can only hope some great good will come of it for the American people. Go Bernie!
1
I hate Trump, and my instinct is to do exactly the opposite of whatever he says out of pure spite. Still, as Trump tries to clumsily kick over the established "New World Order," is it fair to say he is 100 percent wrong about NATO or 100 percent wrong about Saudi Arabia, or 100 percent wrong about Asia? NATO nations don't spend enough on their military. Saudi Arabia stoked the religious fanatics running wild in the Middle East, and maybe a nuclear South Korea or Japan might wake China up to it's rambunctious little brother North Korea. Okay there is no excuse for racist Trump, but gadfly Trump who questions "established" thinking from trade policies to international military cooperation should not be ignored 100 percent, because by definition, we can't already be 100 percent correct in how we've handled these things.
6
Sadly, I must agree with much of what Roger Cohen says in this essay.
Obama's foreign policy has had weaknesses. But signing a deal to stop nuclear proliferation with Iran was actually a pretty good deal in an unstable region. This was a major success.
Yes, Obama did not foresee the quagmire in Syria. Yes this is a failing. Yes, the US has assumed to revolutions in Egypt and Libya would IMPROVE the governments in those countries, and instead we see evidence of ongoing chaos.
But some mistakes are inevitable. We live in trying times. And a foreign policy of America First is far too simplistic.
Such a policy may appeal to the uneducated. But foreign policy is more like a game of chess, not like a game in which money always prevails.
What Trump says that I agree with is: The US must continue to invest in defense. That is sad to admit, but military weakness with the US position even worse.
So, yes, Trump gets high marks for pushing for more defense spending, but not much else. Dealing with terrorists is not the same as dealing with hotel magnates. We need somebody who is clever and understands the full complexity of the issues.
Inadequate knowledge of foreign policy disqualifies Trump.
Too bad the "forgotten Americans" whose jobs were given to an endless stream of illegal immigrants didn't find a better spokesperson.
But in politics as in much of life the POOR ALWAYS LOSE.
Obama's foreign policy has had weaknesses. But signing a deal to stop nuclear proliferation with Iran was actually a pretty good deal in an unstable region. This was a major success.
Yes, Obama did not foresee the quagmire in Syria. Yes this is a failing. Yes, the US has assumed to revolutions in Egypt and Libya would IMPROVE the governments in those countries, and instead we see evidence of ongoing chaos.
But some mistakes are inevitable. We live in trying times. And a foreign policy of America First is far too simplistic.
Such a policy may appeal to the uneducated. But foreign policy is more like a game of chess, not like a game in which money always prevails.
What Trump says that I agree with is: The US must continue to invest in defense. That is sad to admit, but military weakness with the US position even worse.
So, yes, Trump gets high marks for pushing for more defense spending, but not much else. Dealing with terrorists is not the same as dealing with hotel magnates. We need somebody who is clever and understands the full complexity of the issues.
Inadequate knowledge of foreign policy disqualifies Trump.
Too bad the "forgotten Americans" whose jobs were given to an endless stream of illegal immigrants didn't find a better spokesperson.
But in politics as in much of life the POOR ALWAYS LOSE.
1
The US spends as much as, essentially, the rest of the world combined on "defense". Just WHAT more is required?
I see nothing wrong with asking the rest of the world to pay for their own protection. While Mr. Cohen worries about European 'quality of life', he has no sympathy for the suffering of America's poor. That is why Trump is winning.
7
Asking is one thing, demanding and threatening is something entirely different.
3
I really wish Trump and Americans such as yourself would stop believing the fiction that you are paying altruistically to be the 'Protector of the World'. All countries—but especially the USA—spend abroad purely to further their own military and economic ambitions and hegemony. Period. America's poor is certainly suffering, for many reasons, not least because your government committed you and much of the western world to a series of absolutely disastrous (in every sense) military escapades in the Middle East, coincidentally lining the pockets of gigantic weapons manufacturers like Boeing, United Technologies, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, etc., to say nothing of the Halliburtons and approx. 200 other private contractors with their hands in the peoples' pockets to the tune of trillions of dollars, in the Iraq War alone. It's much harder for corporations to turn a profit providing decent healthcare & education that would eventually pay out in creativity, innovation and jobs. From here the USA seems all about guns, guns, guns, privately and corporately. I'm just thrilled that Trump has come along and finally blown up the GOP, and not before time. Go Bernie!
1
Trump thinks our best days were at the time of Teddy Roosevelt. Maybe he intends to revive the Great White Fleet.
3
You insult Teddy Roosevelt, who actually had a mind, not just bombastic ego and lousy taste and a teeny teeny ego that needs reinforcing by encouraging violence in his followers.
3
One of the dangers with Trump is that some of the things he says make sense. But likewise many of the things said by Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mao, Pol Pot, Joseph McCarthy, or Idi Amin also made sense. Trump's supporters only seem to focus on his propaganda and "feel good" anger, and ignore what a political and moral disaster he is. Even with such trivial statements that he wants us to return to the strong country we were in 1900 shows the danger of his misinformation, if not downright lies, that attract voters. (In fact, we were not a world power in 1900, immigrants were exploited and abused, and non-whites and women had few civil rights.) Just like with Sarah Palin, certain voters are attracted to a candidate who mirrors their own ignorance.
15
Cohen surpassed his usual bombastic style. This piece was unusually incendiary. However, after his "questionable assessment" of Trump, one can only hope the candidate will be elected in November. Yes, NATO, as it is presently formed, is obsolete. The European Union, under Article 42 of the Lisbon Treaty (mutual defence), should be required to provide for the Continent's defense. The US and Canada could liaison with the institution for supportive assistance. The European Union has a combined GDP equivalent to the United States and a population of 500M+. It has more than adequate resources for its security. Japan in the 21st Century must reacquire a greater role in its regional deterrence. As for Saudi Arabia, it is arguable whether we are even dealing with an ally. The US appears to be more of a hostage in the Israeli-Saudi-Persian standoff. The price, an American military footprint in the Middle East region to preclude warfare. All of these situations will conceivably be moderated to an acceptable condition for the American electorate. If not, as Cohen infers, a very bad deal for humanity of the planet will most likely occur. The US will remove its security safeguards. And assuming that takes place, watch international capital reposition to the North American continent.
6
I am not surprised about Mr. Trump's myopic view of the world when a National Geographic survey showed that "despite the threat of war in Iraq and the daily reports of suicide bombers in Israel, less than 15 percent of the young U.S. citizens could locate either country.
More young U.S. citizens in the study knew that the island featured in last season's TV show "Survivor" is in the South Pacific than could find Israel.
Particularly humiliating was that all countries were better able to identify the U.S. population than many young U.S. citizens. Within the U.S., almost one-third said that population was between one billion and two billion; the answer is 289 million." End of quote.
Should we be surprised then when the message of the latest political messiah is accepted without questioning by those who will have to carry the weight of a new world they don't understand on shoulders unprepared for the load?
Of course, if the led are blind, the leader can point them anywhere he wants.
It is we who will carry the consequences.
More young U.S. citizens in the study knew that the island featured in last season's TV show "Survivor" is in the South Pacific than could find Israel.
Particularly humiliating was that all countries were better able to identify the U.S. population than many young U.S. citizens. Within the U.S., almost one-third said that population was between one billion and two billion; the answer is 289 million." End of quote.
Should we be surprised then when the message of the latest political messiah is accepted without questioning by those who will have to carry the weight of a new world they don't understand on shoulders unprepared for the load?
Of course, if the led are blind, the leader can point them anywhere he wants.
It is we who will carry the consequences.
20
Crazy as it sounds, from my experience of arguing with Republicans on the internet for the past 8 years, he speaks for a very large portion of them. One wanted to kill all muslins, - I guess killing over a billion people sounded logical to him. Many want to get rid of the UN entirely, and they want no welfare for the down and needy, - only welfare for the military industrial complex. Many over 65 want small government, and deny that they are recipients of Medicare and Social Security. Trump does not lie, because you have to know the truth and opt out of it. What is happening with Trump and his supporters is that they live all in a comic book world where Trump is Superman and he is going to magically destroy all the evil villains who are hurting America. This is not a new idea; people who voted for Cheney/Bush had the very same ideas, it was only presented more subtly, but the Trump results will wind up the same as Cheney/Bush, - a major market crash and wars for nothing.
53
@gerald1906 - gerald I add that Hillary in an infamous revelation of her true nature told us that she as President would be ready to obliterate Iran (80,000,000 people). That promise was as insane as Trump's willingness to get rid of all Muslims.
The only person who seems never to have said anything that crazy is Bernie Sanders.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen USA SE
The only person who seems never to have said anything that crazy is Bernie Sanders.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen USA SE
1
Mr. Cohen, ever-eager even in slamming Trump, to propagate the same tired neoCON fantasies that led him to cheerlead the illegal and unprovoked invasion of Iraq based on lies, seeks to conflate Trump's inane “America First” "with the views of many on the left convinced that the United States should stop policing the world."
The left doesn't want America to stop policing the world. The "left" Mr. Cohen holds in such disdain simply wants America to stop destroying stable nations that help maintain world order and stop financing organizations that later attack us - to stop, in other words, doing stupid stuff.
Surely that can't be too difficult a concept for Mr. Cohen to comprehend?
The left doesn't want America to stop policing the world. The "left" Mr. Cohen holds in such disdain simply wants America to stop destroying stable nations that help maintain world order and stop financing organizations that later attack us - to stop, in other words, doing stupid stuff.
Surely that can't be too difficult a concept for Mr. Cohen to comprehend?
15
If Cohen is against him, I'm voting for Trump.
4
The notion that "we don't have any money" is, of course, nonsense. However, perhaps we'd (i.e., the Treasury) have a little more money if everyone paid a fair share of taxes. Care to show us your tax returns Mr. Trump or are you going to continue to hide behind the phony excuse that they're being audited?
29
Most comments seem to ignore that most of our EU friends spend more on social services and less on defense percentage wise than we do; they're free riders. How about we follow the EU, spend more on social services and less on defense and see if they will start to assume more of their share. Right now we're allowing them to avoid paying their fair share. If they refuse to, we have to decide if our continuing to subsidize them, to the detriment of our citizens is worth it.
20
John S-
Your "....most of our EU friends spend more on social services and less on defense percentage wise than we do; they're free riders."
Living in Paris throughout 12 years I began to see and realize this clearly.
I began to feel my Americans suffering thru wars,
while these people were sitting stress-free in les cafés day and night.
Your "....most of our EU friends spend more on social services and less on defense percentage wise than we do; they're free riders."
Living in Paris throughout 12 years I began to see and realize this clearly.
I began to feel my Americans suffering thru wars,
while these people were sitting stress-free in les cafés day and night.
Get Real! The USA isn't 'subsidizing' any country in the world unless it gets something in return. The mostly overt (but often covert) spending abroad is and always has been purely to further the USA's military and industrial or corporate hegemony. The reason the USA won't spend more on social services is, because it doesn't turn a profit. Whereas war and military spending is infinitely profitable, just look at some of the benefactors of the Iraq disaster alone—Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Halliburton, etc.—you'd think a brilliant businessman like Donald Trump would understand this. These and the approx. 200 'private contractors' scooped up trillions of US tax payer's dollars in that 10 year debacle alone. I'm not suggesting China, Russia, or even Australia are fundamentally any different, but I do wish Americans would stop believing their country is the World's Protector or Policeman for altruistic reasons! Go Bernie!
1
@ John S - John you are expressing a view that Richard Luettgen expresses more strongly and in exactly the same words, first perhaps two days ago and now again here, a thought that ends with his phrase "blood in the streets". As a duel citizen of the USA and Sweden may I note that the billions spent by the USA in Afghanistan and Iraq certainly enriched the military-industrial complex but otherwise was responsible for much of catastrophic situation in Iraq and for the rise of Daesh (ISIS). If GW had not gone to war then perhaps even the USA would have the resources to provide its citizens with Universal Health Care.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen USA-SE
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen USA-SE
Could it be remotely possible that Donald Trump is actually a successful implant by the Democrats to destroy the Republican Party by its horrendous implosion from within? No matter what they do it now to reverse the situation, the current situation appears to be beyond repair. With the GOP’s foundation crumbling, it’d be difficult to sustain GOP other than as a perennial blocker in Congressional works.
7
If the Republican Party was destroyed by Hoover, Nixon, Goldwater, Cheney, Bush and many others, why is it that Republicans control state houses and Congresses in over 2/3rds of our states? The destruction of the Republican Party has been and will always be a dream of Democrats that never happens. In my Congressional District, we have Republicans running as Democrats against Republicans running as Republicans. Republicans control this country, and Democrats are living in a dream world if they think Republicans will somehow loosen their grip.
8
Could it be that the old foundation is crumbling and a new one being built, with leaders like John Boehner and Jeb Bush getting buried while those like Sen. McConnell are scrambling to catch up in order to save their own hides? New isn't always better, of course. New is certainly dangerous when the old order is replaced by chaos, not a new order.
4
Does the Donald and/or better yet Ted Cruz aware of this implant...the plot thickens...but i love it.
3
Right now T rump's support equals approx. 14% of American voters.
We keep hearing about the tea partista take over of congress and the republican party, but they were able to take over congress because democratic voters stayed home.
If democrats stay home this year, to their shame they might bring about the
T rump White House, but somehow I don't believe all the folks in these comments who keep saying if Clinton is the candidate they will not vote.
I think the reality of our Nation's doom might just concentrate and steel those reluctant minds to do the right thing.
We keep hearing about the tea partista take over of congress and the republican party, but they were able to take over congress because democratic voters stayed home.
If democrats stay home this year, to their shame they might bring about the
T rump White House, but somehow I don't believe all the folks in these comments who keep saying if Clinton is the candidate they will not vote.
I think the reality of our Nation's doom might just concentrate and steel those reluctant minds to do the right thing.
3
The man is guano crazy. End of story.
The general public must STOP thinking of him as a normal, non-psychotic human being who is in control of his thoughts. He says he saw, on television, thousands of Muslims cheering the downing of the WTC towers.
I believe him. It's called hallucination (one symptom of schizophrenia).
He says he could shoot someone and it wouldn't hurt him with the public. This is called a delusion (another symptom). The delusion, of course, is that he is super-human.
He comes up with different numbers for how much it will cost to build a great, beautiful wall. A third symptom is disorganized speech.
He seems to lack normal human emotions. He's never embarrassed, or shameful. This is called a negative symptom (that's four)
DSM5 lists five symptoms of schizophrenia. Two are sufficient for a diagnosis.
Trump displays four.
If he wins the Presidency he will have access to the nuclear codes.
The general public must STOP thinking of him as a normal, non-psychotic human being who is in control of his thoughts. He says he saw, on television, thousands of Muslims cheering the downing of the WTC towers.
I believe him. It's called hallucination (one symptom of schizophrenia).
He says he could shoot someone and it wouldn't hurt him with the public. This is called a delusion (another symptom). The delusion, of course, is that he is super-human.
He comes up with different numbers for how much it will cost to build a great, beautiful wall. A third symptom is disorganized speech.
He seems to lack normal human emotions. He's never embarrassed, or shameful. This is called a negative symptom (that's four)
DSM5 lists five symptoms of schizophrenia. Two are sufficient for a diagnosis.
Trump displays four.
If he wins the Presidency he will have access to the nuclear codes.
6
Many in this country still cling to the notion of American exceptionalism. This exceptionalism is normally manifested by our involvement in every region of the world and our willingness to spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year maintaining a military empire. It has also been manifested by our willingness to send our military into wars in these regions for years, even for more than a decade to fight and die and to be horribly maimed even while countries in the region, countries that are more directly affected by entities like ISIS are unwilling to send their own troops to fight and die and to be horribly maimed.
It is easy to be critical of President Obama from afar over his reticence to engage in additional wars. But he (and Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders) has correctly channeled the American people and our hesitancy for more war, especially as I have said, countries in Europe and in the region are perfectly happy to let America fight and die, often for outcomes that are far from victory.
We see our own country literally crumbling at home. Our own citizens are being poisoned with lead and we are told that we can’t afford to fix that problem. It is time to rethink NATO and our numerous alliances around the world. Japan and South Korea are wealthy nations who should be able to counter any aggression in their region but they will never do so long as the US is there to do the heavy lifting.
The pivot to Asia needs to be replaced with a pivot to America.
It is easy to be critical of President Obama from afar over his reticence to engage in additional wars. But he (and Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders) has correctly channeled the American people and our hesitancy for more war, especially as I have said, countries in Europe and in the region are perfectly happy to let America fight and die, often for outcomes that are far from victory.
We see our own country literally crumbling at home. Our own citizens are being poisoned with lead and we are told that we can’t afford to fix that problem. It is time to rethink NATO and our numerous alliances around the world. Japan and South Korea are wealthy nations who should be able to counter any aggression in their region but they will never do so long as the US is there to do the heavy lifting.
The pivot to Asia needs to be replaced with a pivot to America.
3
The benefit to the United States of all this military intervention is profit for the military-industrial complex; it is they who send our soldiers to be killed and maimed. And I wonder how many Iraqis and Syrians have been killed and maimed because of our interference in the Middle East.
3
The idea of a small country like South Korea countering aggression by China is ridiculous. The US is the only country that can hold Chinese expansionism in check and will be in our lives, our childrens' lives and that of our grandchildren. Get used to it.
1
Where is it written that a businessman even successful one has the abilities to be President of the US? Our government is not a business. It wasn't established to make a profit. It should provide security to it's citizens, protect our constitutional rights and provide an even playing field for free Enterprise. This all cost money that we supply by way taxes. Should the government be efficient in using these funds, absolutely, but making a profit, which is the essential function of any business is not part of the charter. So lets stops all the rhetoric that Trump has the ability to run this country.
He doesn't have the knowledge, the temperament or the judgement to be President.
There is no simple answer to peace in the world, but if troops in South Korea, Ger,any or anywhere else keeps our country safe then it's worth the price. If Trumps wants to withdraw form NATO and pull our all our troops home then he better extend the Mexico wall around the full perimeter of this country. Not that it will protect us from anything, but maybe it will make some of the Trump supporters feel better.
Hopefully we will be electing an adult this November and we can put this whole mess behind us.
He doesn't have the knowledge, the temperament or the judgement to be President.
There is no simple answer to peace in the world, but if troops in South Korea, Ger,any or anywhere else keeps our country safe then it's worth the price. If Trumps wants to withdraw form NATO and pull our all our troops home then he better extend the Mexico wall around the full perimeter of this country. Not that it will protect us from anything, but maybe it will make some of the Trump supporters feel better.
Hopefully we will be electing an adult this November and we can put this whole mess behind us.
6
The USA is bordered by 2 oceans, and has the best military in the world. We over here have little to worry about. If Russian tanks roll through Europe, it might make the news, but our streets and neighborhoods would be largely unchanged. Similarly, if Japan and China shot missiles at each other, we'd probably turn on the nightly news, then go about our business. It is time to re-evaluate the post WW2 and Korean War security arrangements. The American taxpayer sees little benefit to the current arrangement.
3
No man is an island
Entire of himself
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
Entire of himself
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
2
Trump's foreign policy views are actually well-designed to return the world to how it was in 1945. If you consider the likely results of his foreign policy wishes - a nuclear war between Japan, China and perhaps the Koreas; the violent breakup of Saudi Arabia, Iranian domination of the Middle East and a preemptive Israeli nuclear strike against its mortal Iranian enemy; and a Russia that re-establishes the Warsaw Pact by force or threat of force against hapless Eastern European allies - the amount of global ruination would be on a par with Europe and East Asia in 1945. His foolish bet is that the US would remain unscathed in this cataclysm the way it did during World War II and be the engine of global recovery - something that is most unlikely to happen today.
7
Trump lacks all nuance and attempts to spin a foreign policy, not by studying world history, but by "watching the shows." We do not need an historically illiterate blowhard taking cues from Hannity and O'Reilly before answering the phone at 3am. Other countries are not kids to be disciplined, scolded and sent their rooms without dinner or allowance.
10
There may be enough low information, racist, misogynist voters in the Republican Party to give Trump the edge in their nomination process but he will not be elected if chosen. His attempts to talk about world affairs are as vacuous and uninformed as every thing else he offers as policy, be it taxes, health care or immigration. He is able to fraudulently pass himself off as anti-establishment to a group of voters that are enthralled by his well-practiced belligerence and empty threats.
Trump, who has not a shred of knowledge or experience, is his own chief foreign policy adviser as he proudly states. The question about Trump that merits utmost attention is not his fake foreign policy. We must instead ask how he can be correctly exposed as someone who seeks personal power and glory at the expense of all Americans.
Trump, who has not a shred of knowledge or experience, is his own chief foreign policy adviser as he proudly states. The question about Trump that merits utmost attention is not his fake foreign policy. We must instead ask how he can be correctly exposed as someone who seeks personal power and glory at the expense of all Americans.
10
"...how he can be correctly exposed as someone who seeks personal power and glory at the expense of all Americans." By debating with either of the Democratic candidates, who will shred him. I am looking forward to it.
5
Trump may have hit some of resonant notes in his thinking, such as it is, but he is way off on the details and nuances of our relationship with each of these counties and entities. It is clear Trump is very Intellectually lazy, unwilling to absorb the context and content, and goes for the simple explanation where there is none. He doesn't know what he doesn't know, and isn't willing to take the time to learn what he doesn't understand. We need an intelligent, learned, and curious mind in the oval office. Not a dunce who thinks he is really, really smart. Just astounding.
14
We keep falling into the same old trick. Even if Mr. Trump were to be elected President (and this applies to Mr. Sanders as well) we have the Senate and House as firewalls. All this chest beating is moot if erratic voter sentiment is lost at local representative elections. There are not enough supporters within the mainstream for either man to be anything but lame ducks from day one. Our fickle-mindedness will most likely lead to voters choosing Trump for President and a liberal as a State or local representative. It happens every time. It's wonderful to express dissatisfaction, but alas all the banter inevitably plays back into the hands of the mainstream.
4
Looking for consistency and coherence in trump's statements, is like looking for reason it that Book so many of his followers blindly follow. It's not there because it's not meant to be.
Intelligent people have different expectations than idiots, and never the two shall meet.
Intelligent people have different expectations than idiots, and never the two shall meet.
2
I think that Trump's statements need a fair bit of interpretation, to get down to their true meaning, in terms of the point he is trying to make.
For instance, when Trump says NATO "obsolete", what I take that to mean is that he feels that the current NATO structure is obsolete - where the US pays by far the largest share for defending Europe. His point is that, in his version of things, the Europeans would have to steps forward with much more funding, more equipment and troops.
For instance, when Trump says NATO "obsolete", what I take that to mean is that he feels that the current NATO structure is obsolete - where the US pays by far the largest share for defending Europe. His point is that, in his version of things, the Europeans would have to steps forward with much more funding, more equipment and troops.
4
The clear way Mr. Trump expresses his thoughts is what appeals to voters. Very few of us understand the nuances of foreign policy and trade agreements. He simplifies it for everybody, rightly or wrongly, and his people like that. The "blue collar billionaire." An apt description.
7
Asking for a better balance of costs with out closest allies does not seem to be a bad thing to me, especially from Germany and Japan, the number 3 and 4 economies in the world. And as long as Saudi Arabia has billions to spend exporting extremist Islam from China to Mali, perhaps they should pony up a little more cash for our support. In short, pretending that renegotiation will lead to doomsday is a weak response to valid concerns about the US role in the world, who pays or it, and how much.
4
According to at least one German publication, Trump is the most dangerous man in the world. The Germans might know a thing or two about that that we don't.
Donald Trump is loudly, proudly ignorant, and appears to have the temperament of a belligerent child. But many Americans don't study history and don't pay attention to the world on a daily basis. We should worry about this, and never underestimate the power of ignorant people in large groups. Such groups have changed history a number of times - never for the better.
Donald Trump is loudly, proudly ignorant, and appears to have the temperament of a belligerent child. But many Americans don't study history and don't pay attention to the world on a daily basis. We should worry about this, and never underestimate the power of ignorant people in large groups. Such groups have changed history a number of times - never for the better.
22
Nonsense! Germans don't know anything about danger or they would not have lent so much money to Greece or even let so many millions of migrants flow into Europe - which all other countries there complain about. Germans are good at engineering and very bad at politics.
It's hard to think of someone who makes "Mein Kampf" seem rational in comparison, but Donald Trump continues to perform this negative achievement.
7
Could President Trump be any more destructive of American influence and global stability than Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld? I doubt it.
13
Really? You doubt it?
Sure, the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld trident of folly and aggression wreaked havoc on the world and its perception of America, but at least they had some meetings about it first with people who went to school for something and had some actual real-world experience. Many of their conclusions sent America, its allies, and its foes into dark places, but at least there was some conversation first.
Trump shoots from his utterly uninformed mouth and spews ignorance and misinformation about every subject he speaks on. He is a giant know-nothing who takes advice from no one as he believes that he is smarter than every person in every room.
Darn right Trump would be more destructive.
Sure, the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld trident of folly and aggression wreaked havoc on the world and its perception of America, but at least they had some meetings about it first with people who went to school for something and had some actual real-world experience. Many of their conclusions sent America, its allies, and its foes into dark places, but at least there was some conversation first.
Trump shoots from his utterly uninformed mouth and spews ignorance and misinformation about every subject he speaks on. He is a giant know-nothing who takes advice from no one as he believes that he is smarter than every person in every room.
Darn right Trump would be more destructive.
7
Sure he could -- if nukes were involved.
2
Back in mid-19th Century, there was a tussle over which political grouping would become the successor of the Whigs and opponent of the dominant Democratic Party, the Republicans or the American Party - the so-called Know Nothings. Greatly thanks to the ideological coherence from its abolitionist creed, the GOP became the second party in our two party system, eclipsing the Know Nothings.
Following WWI, a strong isolationist streak developed, calling itself the America Firsters, seeing our security best served by withdrawing from the world. One would have thought the experience of WWII would have shown us there is no such thing as Festung Amerika. You may wish to leave the world alone but that does not mean the world is willing to leave you alone,
Donald Trump has characterized his foreign policy as "America First", seeing a hostile world taking advantage of us, similarly seeking to withdraw from the global commons our power and ideology has made possible. But given how such a policy would actually affect our security and prosperity (and so much more besides), it would be more apt to view Donald Trump as the return of the Know Nothings, not quite two centuries after our forebears so wisely rejected that path.
Following WWI, a strong isolationist streak developed, calling itself the America Firsters, seeing our security best served by withdrawing from the world. One would have thought the experience of WWII would have shown us there is no such thing as Festung Amerika. You may wish to leave the world alone but that does not mean the world is willing to leave you alone,
Donald Trump has characterized his foreign policy as "America First", seeing a hostile world taking advantage of us, similarly seeking to withdraw from the global commons our power and ideology has made possible. But given how such a policy would actually affect our security and prosperity (and so much more besides), it would be more apt to view Donald Trump as the return of the Know Nothings, not quite two centuries after our forebears so wisely rejected that path.
12
Donald Trump is a know nothing on foreign affairs, and as President, his ignorance would create more disasters than we can even imagine.
71
He will make GW Bush look like a heavy weight diplomat.
With $19 trillion in debt, millions of lost manufacturing jobs, decreasing median wages, a shrinking middle class and deteriorating infrastructure, snide remarks about Trump's criticism of this condition aren't effective.
Cohen has failed to articulate a defense of the status quo. A defense might exist, but Cohen and almost every other "centrist" and "defender of the status quo" has failed to articulate it....for years. They assume it's a core truth and it's logic must therefore be flawless. But, as Trump has exposed, our empire system is not a core truth or a sacred cow.
An attack on Trump's criticism is not an articulate defense of the Pax Americana or the status quo. Trump does better the more he's attacked primarily because his attackers aren't actually articulating quality defenses.
Trump, fundamentally, is a critic of our system of empire. I won't say he's a proponent of a republic over an empire. Trump may, in fact, be a proponent of a more efficient and even more brutal empire. Whatever the case, Trump seems to have free reign because the American intelligentsia has fallen down on the job of defending the status quo or trying to effectively reform it. It seems to ordinary Americans that Trump's critics want things to stay exactly the same.
That's a recipe for Trump's critics to fail.
Cohen has failed to articulate a defense of the status quo. A defense might exist, but Cohen and almost every other "centrist" and "defender of the status quo" has failed to articulate it....for years. They assume it's a core truth and it's logic must therefore be flawless. But, as Trump has exposed, our empire system is not a core truth or a sacred cow.
An attack on Trump's criticism is not an articulate defense of the Pax Americana or the status quo. Trump does better the more he's attacked primarily because his attackers aren't actually articulating quality defenses.
Trump, fundamentally, is a critic of our system of empire. I won't say he's a proponent of a republic over an empire. Trump may, in fact, be a proponent of a more efficient and even more brutal empire. Whatever the case, Trump seems to have free reign because the American intelligentsia has fallen down on the job of defending the status quo or trying to effectively reform it. It seems to ordinary Americans that Trump's critics want things to stay exactly the same.
That's a recipe for Trump's critics to fail.
17
Trump is fundamentally a living breathing part of our system of empire. He hypocritically throws out belligerent catch phrases designed attract the disenfranchised voter but he has not a clue about the real substance of the serious problems we face nor any credible solutions to offer. Those who buy a used car from this salesman will not make it off the lot.
3
One needn't defend the status quo to point out statements that are idiot, and Trump's are that.
And as you basically admit: "I won't say he's a proponent of a republic over an empire. Trump may, in fact, be a proponent of a more efficient and even more brutal empire. Whatever the case ... "
In other words Trump has no policy. Indeed he does not.
And as you basically admit: "I won't say he's a proponent of a republic over an empire. Trump may, in fact, be a proponent of a more efficient and even more brutal empire. Whatever the case ... "
In other words Trump has no policy. Indeed he does not.
4
Amen.
Telling the world about captured and or killed ISIS combatants is wrong because it provides ISIS with vital information they use to improve their KILL strength, praise their martyred and recruit more ISIS KILLERS. We must not let emotions cripple our resolve to defeat ISIS. It is not possible to negotiate with martyrs. The EU and other countries are in a downward spiral of devastation and destruction entirely due to their governments’ liberal political beliefs. Informed Americans know that unless America addresses their problems today they will become exactly like these other countries tomorrow. Voters are now keenly aware countries around the world are today using TRUMP’s mitigating threat proposals to address their individual countries’ catastrophic situations. These choices speak volumes to the value other countries must now place on TRUMP’s proposals. Staying the course is not an option. The old liberal ways have failed to adequately protect America and the world from most terrorist attacks. ALL Americans know that the only politician with an achievable path through these very real threats to America today is TRUMP.
On November 8, 2016, vote to Make America Great Again. Vote for TRUMP.
On November 8, 2016, vote to Make America Great Again. Vote for TRUMP.
2
seniors: Your comment has me confused. It was Europe that was attacked by
terrorists recently because of their porous borders and in Brussels due to their
poor security efforts which need to be improved now. We have not been hit with
the same issues they have. We had our 9/11 and security in this country is
as good as it can be. You seem to be living in fear - so you want a despot to lead
you - his name is Trump, a no-nothing bully who lies, denies the awful things he
says, is a bigot, a misogynist and an ignoramus. Make America Great Again????
Not with him, not on your life!
terrorists recently because of their porous borders and in Brussels due to their
poor security efforts which need to be improved now. We have not been hit with
the same issues they have. We had our 9/11 and security in this country is
as good as it can be. You seem to be living in fear - so you want a despot to lead
you - his name is Trump, a no-nothing bully who lies, denies the awful things he
says, is a bigot, a misogynist and an ignoramus. Make America Great Again????
Not with him, not on your life!
3
Diplomacy à la Trump is but schoolyard bullying and dangerous personal and national hubris with little if any understanding of the complexity of global conflicts and of the need to recognize and respect allies' interests in a world where the United States will neither lead nor survive by going it on its own. His "America First" approach , of course, plays well especially well with those he has whipped into a frenzy of fear of "others" and a desire to be "great again." It all frighteningly conjures up " Deutschland, Deutschland Uber Alles."
13
>>>>>
Trump will not even be the GOP nominee, the Democrats aren't that lucky.
Trump will not even be the GOP nominee, the Democrats aren't that lucky.
9
Postwar stability? Very funny and interesting…Missile Crises at Cuba, Korean War, Vietnam War, Iran – Contra scandal, Iraqi war I and II and South cone Military dictators USA backed. By the way, Mr. Trump is not left wing convinced. Not neo-con. He does not endorse traditional policy. He is just different. In addition, American People want a different world.
4
Dear Roger Cohen,
Wake up and smell the roses...
1. The USA is currently $19 Trillion in debt and in ten years, at today's rate of spending, the Country will be $35 or $40 TRILLION in debt.
2. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. NATO is no longer necessary to protect Europe. NATO serves no useful purpose, in fact it can be argued that it makes Europe less safe.
3. Illegal immigration is ILLEGAL and for the well being of US citizens, illegal immigration cannot be permitted to continue. Those people who have come to the US illegally, must go back to where they came from.
4. Free trade is not "free" when thousands of US companies are forced out-of-business, and millions of workers loose their jobs (i.e. - the US furniture industry).
Wake up and smell the roses...
1. The USA is currently $19 Trillion in debt and in ten years, at today's rate of spending, the Country will be $35 or $40 TRILLION in debt.
2. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. NATO is no longer necessary to protect Europe. NATO serves no useful purpose, in fact it can be argued that it makes Europe less safe.
3. Illegal immigration is ILLEGAL and for the well being of US citizens, illegal immigration cannot be permitted to continue. Those people who have come to the US illegally, must go back to where they came from.
4. Free trade is not "free" when thousands of US companies are forced out-of-business, and millions of workers loose their jobs (i.e. - the US furniture industry).
5
According to Pew Research Center there were 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2014. Just being practical for a moment—there is literally no force in the USA large enough to be trained to round up, detain, prove the guilt of and deport 11.3 million people! The economic cost would also be stupendous and contribute zero to GDP. The Illegal Immigrant problem is a red herring stirred up periodically by nativist sentiment—study after study show that immigrants increase economic activity and efficiency, wages, and yes, growth. The USA has been successful the last 100 years not least because of the contributions of vast numbers of immigrants, legal, or otherwise. (Steve Jobs' father was a Syrian refugee) The vast amount of money needed to round up and deport 11.3 million people would be better spent on education and healthcare in areas where most disaffected, uneducated and unskilled white men live.
The elite class of elected “Established Mainstream Republicans” and “Established Mainstream Democrats” created all of the “Politically Correct” limited wars that the USA has fought, and then tied or lost since WWII. These wars have cost the USA thousands of lives, tens of thousands of disabled veterans, and a few trillions of US taxpayer dollars which the taxpayers did not have so the US government increased the National Debt and obligated our children to repay the money that we borrowed and then spent on these wars!
Donald Trump's foreign policy could not possibly be any worse that “Established Mainstream Republicans” and “Established Mainstream Democrats” foreign policy dictated by the elite “DONOR CLASS” that has been in effect for the last 70 years!
Donald Trump's foreign policy could not possibly be any worse that “Established Mainstream Republicans” and “Established Mainstream Democrats” foreign policy dictated by the elite “DONOR CLASS” that has been in effect for the last 70 years!
5
Funny how the perception of risk by the establishment media is so much oriented towards maintaining the status-quo on foreign policy issues. I am not saying the Trump's policy proposals are particularly enlightened; however, the status-quo does not look particularly attractive unless you are part of the establishment. You may not admit it but the rest of us know who pays your salaries. As thy say, he who pays the piper calls the tune. Same for the media. Forget objectivity as long as you are neutral. Play dumb when Bernie says Trump is a pathological liar because that is neutral. Ha ha. Changes my friends, they are a coming. Let us embrace what is happening and look to the 99% to solve our problems. It is clear that the 0.1% does not care, has not cared for a very long time.
5
Trump knows neither history nor economics. The Atlantic Alliance was established by George Washington. NATO is the extension of that alliance. It was not obsolete in 1790 and is not obsolete today.
The United States has been the most powerful nation on earth - economically and militarily - since the 1870's. Since the Panama Canal opened in 1914 the United States has ruled the seas.
We would be ill-advised to give nuclear weapons to Japan or South Korea. We do not want a nuclear arms race on the Korean peninsula, nor do we want the right-wing in Japan re-opening armed conflict.
I think Trump flunked history. His high school report card must be a disaster that he will never disclose.
The United States has been the most powerful nation on earth - economically and militarily - since the 1870's. Since the Panama Canal opened in 1914 the United States has ruled the seas.
We would be ill-advised to give nuclear weapons to Japan or South Korea. We do not want a nuclear arms race on the Korean peninsula, nor do we want the right-wing in Japan re-opening armed conflict.
I think Trump flunked history. His high school report card must be a disaster that he will never disclose.
15
You need to study history as well. Britain was by far the strongest in 1900 thanks to their huge empire, powerful navy and lead in industrialization. The US did not become a world power until after WWI.
You can believe he'll do what he says on Foreign policy, only if you believe he will build a wall paid by the Mexicans. He pandered to the right in order to win nomination and he is pandering to the left hoping to get elected. There is no way for any of us to say what he will do as a president because he himself still has no idea what he wants to do. Trump will improvise on Foreign policy and that is the real danger of his presidency.
17
It's time for Germany, France, UK and the EU as a whole to spend more on defense and reduce America's workload. The middle east is a different matter though. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and UAE have their security guaranteed due to the presence of US military bases. But they also buy a lot of US treasuries in addition to military equipment from the US. Same with Japan and South Korea. These 'creditor' nations have helped the US Govt to borrow money at ridiculously low rates which is probably not deserved considering the humongous US debt. Now, If anything destabilizes these 'creditor' nations which forces them to dump US treasuries, the resulting higher yield on the debt might bankrupt the US. There is a delicate balancing act going on right now and it's not in the US interest to disturb it. The USA is not the world's policemen out of any sense of altruism.
9
American "weakness" since the post-WWII era is more relative than actual. Europe took decades to recover from the crippling loss of lives, infrastructure and manufacturing. The Soviet Union and China were hobbled by Communism but are now major players in the global economy. It behooves Trump and others to pretend that we are weak and somehow less than what we were in the last century, when really the rest of the world is gaining its footing. We need to realize that we live in a global society and that rather than blaming our relative weakness on other countries we need to learn how to compete. It is time to invest in education and infrastructure and rather than complain about the more level playing field we should learn how to play on it.
32
A ship of fools must needs be steered by a moron-in-chief, as the old adage goes. So, alas, poor land of the free - empire no more. Your coffers are empty, and your leaders inept. Or are they? Anyway, it may have dawned on the front-runner that 'making deals' with an appallingly gullible electorate, for example, by promising to lower taxes on an unprecedented scale, could have detrimental effects on the federal budget and the financing of traditional foreign policy objectives. If this were, indeed, an incentive for the prospective commander-in-chief to finally reign in his cruder impulses and jump-start his brain, there might yet be some hope, and not all in vain, however slim though that chance may appear.
1
I am not a Trump supporter, but to deny that he's speaking some level of truth is short sighted. Obama has recently decried the same sad "free rider" situation that our allies so strongly embrace. Saudi Arabia may be the most egregious example, as they export and fund sunni extremism, subjugate their women citizens, flood the world with cheap oil solely to decimate U.S. oil and gas companies, and do very little to work to settle their local conflicts. Yet, up until Obama, we fell over ourselves to support their needs. ("With friends like these, who needs enemies") Trump won't get in, but these ideas are more mainstream than Mr. Cohen cares to admit.
137
"Because, he insists, the whole postwar set-up is a scam."
Great piece. thank you. but you failed to make plain that he who calls "scam" is simply the bigger scammer.
Great piece. thank you. but you failed to make plain that he who calls "scam" is simply the bigger scammer.
6
Mike asked "Why has the American press given Trump so much attention?"
For the same reason that people rubberneck as they drive by an accident, CURIOUSITY.
(Granted, after you have seen and heard the same nonsense for the 20th time, a rational person would ignore the 21st. But not the media. Gotta sell thinner and thinner papers.)
For the same reason that people rubberneck as they drive by an accident, CURIOUSITY.
(Granted, after you have seen and heard the same nonsense for the 20th time, a rational person would ignore the 21st. But not the media. Gotta sell thinner and thinner papers.)
3
The US is in need of an urgent reality check , or maybe it is everyone else.
1
We are a poorer nation. As far as standard of living for everyone--We have been on a downward slide since the seventies. Reality is reality. So stay in charge, Preserve Pax Americana, just don't let anyone see or experience our decayed roads, our crumbling bridges, our ancient airports, our terrible rail system...our full prisons, or observe our ever growing marginalized population. Keep the world safe, America safe... but who are we keeping it safe for? If you are burdened by student loans, if you have a crummy low paying job, if you are working three jobs to feed your kids... you probably don't care about Nato.
6
How about looking where the money is? There are people, like Trump who have billions, not earned by hard work, but by wheeling and dealing with no regard for who gets hurt or in the way.
Normal people are hurt by paying taxes, its a bite when y ou have to write a check for a few thousand in April. People like Trump and the other .01% pay lawyers literally millions to protect their billions.
Does anyone remember when a guy named Ty - the beanie baby guy- used a scheme to avoid paying $124 million in taxes? That wasn't the amount he protected, it was the tax on probably, what, 100 times that much? There is plenty of money in the US. It's sitting in bank accounts of McDonald's and Google and of the people who buy the $50 Million dollar homes we see in the Times to go along with the other mansions they own all over the world. I find it hilarious that people who feel the 'elite' have ripped them off think Trump is their savior.
Normal people are hurt by paying taxes, its a bite when y ou have to write a check for a few thousand in April. People like Trump and the other .01% pay lawyers literally millions to protect their billions.
Does anyone remember when a guy named Ty - the beanie baby guy- used a scheme to avoid paying $124 million in taxes? That wasn't the amount he protected, it was the tax on probably, what, 100 times that much? There is plenty of money in the US. It's sitting in bank accounts of McDonald's and Google and of the people who buy the $50 Million dollar homes we see in the Times to go along with the other mansions they own all over the world. I find it hilarious that people who feel the 'elite' have ripped them off think Trump is their savior.
5
The US is not bankrupt. What it is is taxed starved. The Tax rates that for the period that Trump cites as the US Golden age were a magnitude higher. The disparity between the rich and poor during the same period was much less. He knows not what he does....and its may not be Hitler but it is Mussolini who he struts like.
13
Roger, seems you cannot handle the 'truth' of what Trump outlines. Yes, we have been ripped off, globally. That is fact. The only issue is what we will do about it. Trump is transnational power, you do, we do oriented. Change is necessary. Just what that change should be is yet to be determined. Time to ditch the same old, same old. What are your suggestions Roger?
6
"Trump is transnational power, you do, we do oriented." How about a coherent sentence?
So Roger is checking in on Trump with his two cents worth.....Trump is a godsend for journalism that has been drowning in red ink....the public can't get enough of Trump and The Times needs the cash to balance the budget.
Trump sees everything through the prism of hard cash....he doesn't mind that America is the mercenary policeman of the world....he minds that the US is not getting paid enough for providing the service. The foreign aid to Israel averages over two billion a year, but at least the Israelis are required to spend most of that buying weapons from the American defense industry.
The real losers in all of this are American tax payers who pay for everything and get less and less back as each Republican controlled congress stonewalls paying for repairing the highways and helping the unemployed and underemployed.
I may have to continue paying all my income taxes to America as a 13 year expatriate, but at least I have the benefit of enjoying my retirement in an idyllic multi-cultural and very safe community in Provence.
To my fellow Americans I can only say Bonne Chance!
Trump sees everything through the prism of hard cash....he doesn't mind that America is the mercenary policeman of the world....he minds that the US is not getting paid enough for providing the service. The foreign aid to Israel averages over two billion a year, but at least the Israelis are required to spend most of that buying weapons from the American defense industry.
The real losers in all of this are American tax payers who pay for everything and get less and less back as each Republican controlled congress stonewalls paying for repairing the highways and helping the unemployed and underemployed.
I may have to continue paying all my income taxes to America as a 13 year expatriate, but at least I have the benefit of enjoying my retirement in an idyllic multi-cultural and very safe community in Provence.
To my fellow Americans I can only say Bonne Chance!
4
I read the last word as "humility." Imagine that.
Pax Britannica bankrupted England. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
And another pithy quote -M. Python - "we try to remember the names of all those from the Sudbury area who so gallantly gave their lives to keep China British"
And another pithy quote -M. Python - "we try to remember the names of all those from the Sudbury area who so gallantly gave their lives to keep China British"
6
England was "bankrupted" (close to it) by the first-world war. England's cost of maintaining Empire, particularly in India had been rising, and India had a vivid example in front of them of english-colonials establishing independence through revolution. It's arguable, but WWII probably delayed Indian independence.
1
Mr. Cohen, you are quite correct on almost all the foreign policies that Il Trumpolini has no clue about.
Yet I don't think that his version of "America First" converges with the views of many on the left convinced that the US should stop policing the world.
I have never heard anyone on the left arguing against NATO or having US bases in other countries for their protection against neighbouring ones that are foes.
The whole mess that is now the Middle East started because Dubya wanted to outdo daddy dearest in Iraq to show all who is the real 'Decider' now, and consequently his and Cheney's puppet Al Maliki was not willing to play ball anymore. Now that 'policing' really backfired on the whole region.
Yet I don't think that his version of "America First" converges with the views of many on the left convinced that the US should stop policing the world.
I have never heard anyone on the left arguing against NATO or having US bases in other countries for their protection against neighbouring ones that are foes.
The whole mess that is now the Middle East started because Dubya wanted to outdo daddy dearest in Iraq to show all who is the real 'Decider' now, and consequently his and Cheney's puppet Al Maliki was not willing to play ball anymore. Now that 'policing' really backfired on the whole region.
4
With all due respect Mr. Cohen, I don't know what your trumpeting Trump is about. We already know over here that he would be a catastrophe waiting to happen, if he were ever elected into the White House. Remember? We saw his list of potential Foreign Affairs advisers. All scary.
We already know that he's a blustering bully without the ability to listen to anyone but himself. Strictly not Diplomat material. And we know he would dismantle the World, let alone NATO, Japan, Estonia or Saudi Arabia.
Being stationed in Europe, one might have expected you to write about more urgent matters; like the recent attack on Brussels, the total incapability of the EU to rise to the occasion and stop this insanity, or the ongoing terrorist threats going on there. But no. You decide to write about Trump, and tell us about a ship we already know is sinking...because it's ours!
We already know that he's a blustering bully without the ability to listen to anyone but himself. Strictly not Diplomat material. And we know he would dismantle the World, let alone NATO, Japan, Estonia or Saudi Arabia.
Being stationed in Europe, one might have expected you to write about more urgent matters; like the recent attack on Brussels, the total incapability of the EU to rise to the occasion and stop this insanity, or the ongoing terrorist threats going on there. But no. You decide to write about Trump, and tell us about a ship we already know is sinking...because it's ours!
9
A columnist is limited to a certain number of words in a given column, so all the relevant and related topics cannot be addressed in one column. Syria is destroying itself, and is flooding Europe with refugees, and ISIS is festering, because the United States invaded Iraq and destabilized the entire Middle East. I wonder (seriously) if Iraqis would prefer to have Saddam back.
@miriam
Thank you Miriam. But seeing as I am a journalist, I am well aware of the limitations of writing a column.
However I do agree with you that there is a lot of ground to cover concerning this issue which shows no immediate signs of improvement. And as someone with family and friends in Europe, I am extremely concerned about any "New World Order".
Thank you Miriam. But seeing as I am a journalist, I am well aware of the limitations of writing a column.
However I do agree with you that there is a lot of ground to cover concerning this issue which shows no immediate signs of improvement. And as someone with family and friends in Europe, I am extremely concerned about any "New World Order".
So far, nobody's really asking what's wrong with Donald Trump.
Although Andrea Mitchell got close yesterday on 'Meet the Press.'
After hearing about Trump's meeting w/ the Washington Post staff, during which he alternately evaded their questions & flattered them, Mitchell pointed out Trump isn't able to stay on one topic. This is true & weird. If someone asks him a question about, say, climate change, he'll start off about the weather at Mar-A-Lago, then digress to Marco Rubio insulted him first so he was forced to hit back & Rubio tried to take him down but couldn't plus people tell Trump his hands are beautiful.
What to make of this bizzaro nonsense?
Is Trump's inability to stay on topic a strategic device, changing the subject when he doesn't want to answer? Or is his thinking so disorganized/disturbed that he can't control himself?
I think he can't control himself. Remember the Feb. 26 debate when Trump started off with calm demeanor & reasonable responses? But then lost it when Rubio taunted him?
Donald Trump isn't in control of himself. There's a reason why, while Americans were freaking out about the attack in Brussels, Trump had no higher concern than busying himself on Twitter picking on Heidi Cruz.
He may just be an idiot. But he seems really out of it. His behavior & concerns don't seem normal, nor does he seem in control of himself.
I think Donald Trump is crazy.
Why aren't more people asking this? Too rude? But he's running for president!!
Although Andrea Mitchell got close yesterday on 'Meet the Press.'
After hearing about Trump's meeting w/ the Washington Post staff, during which he alternately evaded their questions & flattered them, Mitchell pointed out Trump isn't able to stay on one topic. This is true & weird. If someone asks him a question about, say, climate change, he'll start off about the weather at Mar-A-Lago, then digress to Marco Rubio insulted him first so he was forced to hit back & Rubio tried to take him down but couldn't plus people tell Trump his hands are beautiful.
What to make of this bizzaro nonsense?
Is Trump's inability to stay on topic a strategic device, changing the subject when he doesn't want to answer? Or is his thinking so disorganized/disturbed that he can't control himself?
I think he can't control himself. Remember the Feb. 26 debate when Trump started off with calm demeanor & reasonable responses? But then lost it when Rubio taunted him?
Donald Trump isn't in control of himself. There's a reason why, while Americans were freaking out about the attack in Brussels, Trump had no higher concern than busying himself on Twitter picking on Heidi Cruz.
He may just be an idiot. But he seems really out of it. His behavior & concerns don't seem normal, nor does he seem in control of himself.
I think Donald Trump is crazy.
Why aren't more people asking this? Too rude? But he's running for president!!
15
Except, Trump is right about some of this. The rest of the world "wants something done, supposedly", pushes, prods us to do it; contributes little or nothing, then carps, whines, criticizes, moans , groans about those unilateral, obnoxious, arrogant Americans for doing it, or doing it "wrong". Trump is right about that. The "world" criticizes Russian activities far less than ours! I agree with Trump here. I'm sick of it. I'm not a Trump supporter (personally I completely agree with Obama foreign policy ; and would next like someone like Bloomberg). But , Trump has a good point.
2
Seems Trump is too timid to address the money we use to defend our "pal" Israel.
8
There are certain political third rails that even Trump knows not to touch.
2
Why are some Jews so emphatic that because someone makes a statement against Israel it makes them and anti Semite? Tragically flawed reasoning.
Who would have thought that my yearly Thanksgiving ordeal talking politics with Uncle Bill would end up being analyzed in the NYT.
3
His voters don't care about facts any more than he does.
6
I feel sorry for Mr. Cohen that he has to use a column to defend NATO, no nukes for Japan, and our relationship with Saudi Arabia in a mid-east torn by turmoil.
4
Why don't you tell us what's really motivating your comment.
To what exact. existing world "stability' is Cohen referring? He thinks the world is stable? I guess he has let his subscription to the NY Times expire along with any common sense (not the same things)
2
Trump is not an admirable man, not by a long shot. But what he says about foreign policy is a lot more sensible that what I hear from Mr. Cohen.
A blind loyalty to Israel and Saudi Arabia has brought endless troubles to the US, has not yielded prosperity for the US and has not made the Middle East any better.
As for NATO it was supposed to be a defense against the USSR. Now that the USSR does not exist it has morphed into quiet aggression against Russia. Unfortunately Mr. Putin is not a quiet man and the possibilities are pretty bad. Russia needs to trade with Europe and Europe with them. NATO is the obstacle to this development. And why on earth were NATO troops in Afghanistan which borders no ocean, let alone the North Atlantic?
Either of Mr. Trump or Mr. Sanders would be better than Mrs. Clinton and for that matter better than Mr. Obama (or Mr. Bush)..
And Mr. Cohen, the chances of peace between Israel and Palestine are better with a bully like Trump than with the quiet and passive Mr. Obama. Someone needs to read Israel and Palestine the riot act and Trump could be that person.
A blind loyalty to Israel and Saudi Arabia has brought endless troubles to the US, has not yielded prosperity for the US and has not made the Middle East any better.
As for NATO it was supposed to be a defense against the USSR. Now that the USSR does not exist it has morphed into quiet aggression against Russia. Unfortunately Mr. Putin is not a quiet man and the possibilities are pretty bad. Russia needs to trade with Europe and Europe with them. NATO is the obstacle to this development. And why on earth were NATO troops in Afghanistan which borders no ocean, let alone the North Atlantic?
Either of Mr. Trump or Mr. Sanders would be better than Mrs. Clinton and for that matter better than Mr. Obama (or Mr. Bush)..
And Mr. Cohen, the chances of peace between Israel and Palestine are better with a bully like Trump than with the quiet and passive Mr. Obama. Someone needs to read Israel and Palestine the riot act and Trump could be that person.
7
I highly doubt that Trump would read Israel the riot act. He has said nothing so far regarding Israel.
1
Trump's relationship with the truth is not just dodgy, it it nonexistent.
What an insecure man, bragging and blustering and surrounding himself with violence.
Making America small and mean.
Working stiffs, he's not on your "side". He's on the "side" that takes your money and leaves you to fend for yourself. Con men were ever thus.
What an insecure man, bragging and blustering and surrounding himself with violence.
Making America small and mean.
Working stiffs, he's not on your "side". He's on the "side" that takes your money and leaves you to fend for yourself. Con men were ever thus.
78
How interesting that Donald Trump wants to restore America to its 1900 days of greatness. The era was marked by the rise of American imperialism, marked by the epochal call for the "White man" to bear his civilizational "burden." Ah, so, Mr. Duck wants to shed that burden and yet want America to reclaim its 19th century glory? Who is his chief historical advisor? Is it the young lady whose last name resonates with Huckleberry?
4
Frankly, I find this article to be nothing but more American media nonsense
6
There is no end to the anti Trump rhetoric.
The Republicans don't want Trump because he would expose them as well as the Democrats with their lobbyist ties. We need a person to come in and neutralize the behind the scenes bargaining that goes on. We could learn why Obama did nothing about the outsourcing of work/ jobs from the USA, who paid off who? Why Paul Ryan automatically passed the disastrous budget, what lobbyist supported him and others to pass the awful budget. Who had the most to gain from not repealing or at least changing Obama Care, am sure both parties were paid off by some influential group. The time has come to bring a neutral person into the Whitehouse, both sides fear Trumps candor as he will alert the public about the back door deals which enable politicians to be in office so long.
Whether or not you like Trump, his time has come. The media must have a lot to hide as they are doing all they can to destroy Trump.
Republican or Democrat, if you vote for your love of America and with your conscience, we need the truth!!!!!
The Republicans don't want Trump because he would expose them as well as the Democrats with their lobbyist ties. We need a person to come in and neutralize the behind the scenes bargaining that goes on. We could learn why Obama did nothing about the outsourcing of work/ jobs from the USA, who paid off who? Why Paul Ryan automatically passed the disastrous budget, what lobbyist supported him and others to pass the awful budget. Who had the most to gain from not repealing or at least changing Obama Care, am sure both parties were paid off by some influential group. The time has come to bring a neutral person into the Whitehouse, both sides fear Trumps candor as he will alert the public about the back door deals which enable politicians to be in office so long.
Whether or not you like Trump, his time has come. The media must have a lot to hide as they are doing all they can to destroy Trump.
Republican or Democrat, if you vote for your love of America and with your conscience, we need the truth!!!!!
5
It's useful to remember that the first Article of Faith of the Republican Religion is: Ignorance is Bliss. Pretty much downhill from there.
6
I do not want to place myself in the position of defending Donald Trump, but let's not stretch it. You can accept the title of this piece only if you consider the current state of the world as order. Trump is not the only one who has problems with the Saudis. The current administration has also chilled to its former partner.
What is annoying is how the NYT tries to manipulate its readers. In order to turn them against Trump, its commentators are willing to go to any length, even distortion of facts. So, how is this better than the Republicans, or for that matter Donald Trump?
What is annoying is how the NYT tries to manipulate its readers. In order to turn them against Trump, its commentators are willing to go to any length, even distortion of facts. So, how is this better than the Republicans, or for that matter Donald Trump?
6
Much as I abhor the guy who represents everything negative, I do feel some concurrence with his New World Order ( or disorder ! ). Frankly, we have become the World's Policeman, a job thrust on us. I don't see why we continue to do so because a Policeman is PAID. Why are we fighting proxy wars? Why are we spending for other countries leaving our troops and maintaining bases in all parts of the globe. Why are we fighting for Saudi Arabia which spawns terrorists while their people living in gold-fauceted palaces? Why are we aiding Israel so heavily? They are rich, have a sophisticated military and above all nukes. They are the regional superpower who can take care of themselves even though they are surrounded by hostile countries. Why are we providing a security blanket while these countries enrich themselves and providing social security for it's citizens? Perhaps it would have been o.k. if our citizens were taken care of, a 21st century infrastructure, life-sustaining jobs and happy, educated children. But the fact is we don't. The Saudis have 'gold' faucets while the South Korean children top math and science. Fact is we still live in the post-1945 world order which has become archaic. This is 2016!! Was this Policeman's job forever? The others got away with an invaluable deal. Time to cut the apron strings and concentrate on OUR PEOPLE. Moreover, most of the world disorder might disappear when countries don't get 'freebees'.
9
Because working to keep all these countries from blowing each other up, and getting at least some measure of cooperation on little things like changing the climate of the whole planet we live on, is a load we picked up back around 1941.
You may have heard of it...World War 2? We lost about 500, 000 men?
For all its problems, this is about the safest period in human history.
Care to guess why?
You may have heard of it...World War 2? We lost about 500, 000 men?
For all its problems, this is about the safest period in human history.
Care to guess why?
2
If only the world would accept rule by the Karzais! Wouldn't happiness reign?
A primary element of Trump's foreign policy strategy reflects one of his go-to business strategies, for the United States to declare the equivalent of bankruptcy.
12
As the saying goes, "Power corrupts, absolute power absolutely corrupts." Trump knows very little and is not nuanced. He will centralize as much power as he can, all in the name of making America strong and respected again. And just like his business dealings there will be murky and shady aspects to his administration. And we will be in a far worse place four years into his presidency. If you thought that GWB was bad, just imagine how much worse we'll be with Trump at the helm. He is piqued that Germany is not toeing his line, just bomb them and they'll respect us. He does not like Iran, why not just send a couple of the many nukes we have. After all they're rotting in a silo somewhere.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
7
I'm not sure which is worse. Mr Trump's over the top hard line or Mr Obama's apology tour and embarrassing behavior as he trots around the world. It would be hard for Trump to top Obama.
1
Apology tour? Where do you get your information?
2
Trump's supporters say they like the way Trump "Tells it like it is", yet Trump's statements were awarded PolitiFact's 2015 Lie of the Year.
13
Good luck with a world where the vacuum of power we leave in our Trump-led international retreat is taken up, region after region, by men and ideology as crude, belligerent and ignorant as the yellow haired wonder himself.
You think our economy will thrive when our companies are booted out of every location where they now operate?
Or when something as basic as free ocean shipping lanes are overtaken by nations that would like our economy (our lifeblood) to shrivel.
You think Trump will have options then?
When Americans are clamoring for retribution against those nations he emboldened with his naive, ill placed "deals?"
You'll all be on the warpath.
And he'll give it to you.
He'll call the effort "fabulous!"
I can just hear his dumb voice in my head.
Good lord, get real!
You think our economy will thrive when our companies are booted out of every location where they now operate?
Or when something as basic as free ocean shipping lanes are overtaken by nations that would like our economy (our lifeblood) to shrivel.
You think Trump will have options then?
When Americans are clamoring for retribution against those nations he emboldened with his naive, ill placed "deals?"
You'll all be on the warpath.
And he'll give it to you.
He'll call the effort "fabulous!"
I can just hear his dumb voice in my head.
Good lord, get real!
9
Has anyone asked Donald Trump when he felt America was great the last time in his estimation. Hopefully whomever it is that asks has a thorough knowledge of history so as to engage the blustery fellow on his own turf and not be led astray by the wordy Trump!
2
He was asked that question in the interview, he claims 1845.
1
"That Trump could be the next president of the United States is no longer a fanciful notion.". Tens of millions of American have known this for 9 months. Tens of millions!
But only in the high minded offices of the NYT is this simple fact settling in as of late March 2016. Amazing but true. Think about that Mr. Cohen. Think long and hard.
But only in the high minded offices of the NYT is this simple fact settling in as of late March 2016. Amazing but true. Think about that Mr. Cohen. Think long and hard.
5
SO we should running up massive trade and federal deficits, in order to defend japan, s korea, germany and oil rich states?
It's a good strategy to allow a bunch of non-English speaking, low skilled illegals into the country, to reduce wages, tax our social services and take jobs?
I don't mind defending japan, germany and arabia, but i want to be paid for it. we don't get their cars, appliances and oil for free, so neither should our trillions in defense.
It's a good strategy to allow a bunch of non-English speaking, low skilled illegals into the country, to reduce wages, tax our social services and take jobs?
I don't mind defending japan, germany and arabia, but i want to be paid for it. we don't get their cars, appliances and oil for free, so neither should our trillions in defense.
1
The Donald is a clown, the masses are morons, the disenfranchised supporters of The Donald should open their eyes and ears and look at history. Why is their no institution memory in this country.
4
Gee I wouldn't mind a president who promises to review all of our alliances and foreign aid spending upon taking office. A reset might be in order. I very much dislike the 'friends' we have (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan) at the expense of friends we don't have (India).
2
Why do we even listen to this buffoon and continue to give him free publicity?
No matter what you say the Drumpf supporters are going to continue to be Trump supporters. All they know is anger. Trump is the anger vote.
I promise you, no matter how things unfold, he will never put his foot in the oval office. Not an chance the world is willing to take.
No matter what you say the Drumpf supporters are going to continue to be Trump supporters. All they know is anger. Trump is the anger vote.
I promise you, no matter how things unfold, he will never put his foot in the oval office. Not an chance the world is willing to take.
4
I urge any person considering voting for Trump to read the full transcript of his interview by the Washington Post. His ignorance is monumental, and that should frighten each and every one of us.
8
Yes, I read the full transcript, and the man is not only ignorant but can't put a coherent thought together. He says something, repeats himself, then goes off on tangents like complaining about how unfairly he is treated by the Washington Post. Scary.
1
Trump may be wrong about everything, but he's done the U.S. a great public service in revealing that the dogma of both parties, and their supporters in the commentariat and the "business community" -- "free trade", "free markets", "enhanced interrogation techniques" -- is a vacuous wash of self-serving platitudes.
Trump holds up a mirror to America, he's the unwitting parody who reveals the truth. If the elites don't like what they see, maybe it's time to look in their own mirror....
Trump holds up a mirror to America, he's the unwitting parody who reveals the truth. If the elites don't like what they see, maybe it's time to look in their own mirror....
1
The thing that makes Trump such a legitimate threat is that there are tiny little nuggets of truth that can be mined from the enormous turd pile of his candidacy.
For example, Saudi Arabia has had us over a barrel (bad pun intended) for a long time, but his disdain for them is warranted and shared by many.
People that are naturally drawn to him because of his persona are given just enough of this virtual "fools gold" to stick with him no matter how outlandish or beyond the pale he gets in his statements.
For example, Saudi Arabia has had us over a barrel (bad pun intended) for a long time, but his disdain for them is warranted and shared by many.
People that are naturally drawn to him because of his persona are given just enough of this virtual "fools gold" to stick with him no matter how outlandish or beyond the pale he gets in his statements.
5
Cohen complains but does not explain what exactly is wrong with evicting passengers from the Great American Gravy Train abroad.
Propping up other countries comes at a great cost to our own, and it's time for the weaning to begin. Perhaps it will make this dangerous world a safer place.
Propping up other countries comes at a great cost to our own, and it's time for the weaning to begin. Perhaps it will make this dangerous world a safer place.
2
Any reasonable person reading the transcript of the interview with Trump should be afraid, very afraid.
Not only is the candidate incoherent (Problem: "Biggest problem, to me, in the world, is nuclear, and proliferation." Solution: Let 'em have nukes.), but he clearly doesn't understand how America projects its power. He's just looking for someone to pick up the tab.
The media, including The Times, has been derelict in responsibilities, feeding on the spectacle of a supposed train-wreck candidate who looks more likely than ever to take the Republican nomination.
Now imagine a Trump vs. Sanders election in the fall. With all due respect to Senator Sanders, how on earth is that going to work out for anyone?
Not only is the candidate incoherent (Problem: "Biggest problem, to me, in the world, is nuclear, and proliferation." Solution: Let 'em have nukes.), but he clearly doesn't understand how America projects its power. He's just looking for someone to pick up the tab.
The media, including The Times, has been derelict in responsibilities, feeding on the spectacle of a supposed train-wreck candidate who looks more likely than ever to take the Republican nomination.
Now imagine a Trump vs. Sanders election in the fall. With all due respect to Senator Sanders, how on earth is that going to work out for anyone?
5
RIP OFF? Everything that Trump disagrees with is classified as a ripoff. That's an ever growing category where he dumps all his displeasure, frustration and anger. The criteria for being dump onto the pile is that he says so. His strategies are stated as valid because he says so. Trump's description ( I cannot bring myself to dignify it as analysis) of the world today and the US role in it is process that involves Trump being able to line up things, people, places and events with which he disagrees and which displease him as ripe for being told off. Dubya was the decider. Trump is the rip off ender. His rationalization for his actions is that he can return to some variation on, You're Fired. Right. Fire Putin. Fire Khamenai, Fire Merkel, Fire Castro, Fire Obama. A leader here, a leader there and pretty soon you're talking real power. In the mind of Trump. Such as it is. Most disturbing of all the rantings and craziness is his response to being compared to Hitler. He was asked if the comparison bothered him. Without any change of facial expression, he blurted out, No. Asked another few times, the answer was still No. What sort of comparison would it take to get Trump's attention? Stalin? Mao? Putin? Idi Amin? Radovic? Castro? His focus is on the withdrawal of the US from engagement with the world. If we can't be the top dog then we're out of the fight. Except foreign policy is not a dog fight. It's not a battle of roosters. What is it then?
6
Change is part of Life Mr. Kristoff, and every now and then the world, and everything in it, is due to a paradigm change. It is human nature to complain when it arrives and to fight it tooth and nail.
Trump is right about everything, including the attitude of Germany and Europe versus Ukraine.
It is actually a larger issue. Western Europe is very patronizing and dismissing to the point of being racist against the countries in Eastern Europe, especially the former USSR republics.
Merkel preferred to take over a million of uneducated Arab Muslims last year, than open its borders to immigration from Ukraine where people are of the same race and culture, are VERY educated, and Christians. UK too always speaks dismissive of Eastern Europe countries each time they have a chance, and are more tolerant to Indian and Arab immigration than to say, the Polish one, although the Polish are smart, educated, and hardworking.
In fact, some of the Eastern countries were accepted in the EU, only when USA showed interest in them and accepted them into NATO; and the Eastern Europe countries (Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria) were accepted to the EU only to be what Mexico is for the US: a new market for multinationals and a source of cheap labor.
NATO hasn't done anything since the end of WWII, it has become a slow, useless bureaucracy with a big budget to buy arms, fighter planes, etc.
Trump is right about everything, including the attitude of Germany and Europe versus Ukraine.
It is actually a larger issue. Western Europe is very patronizing and dismissing to the point of being racist against the countries in Eastern Europe, especially the former USSR republics.
Merkel preferred to take over a million of uneducated Arab Muslims last year, than open its borders to immigration from Ukraine where people are of the same race and culture, are VERY educated, and Christians. UK too always speaks dismissive of Eastern Europe countries each time they have a chance, and are more tolerant to Indian and Arab immigration than to say, the Polish one, although the Polish are smart, educated, and hardworking.
In fact, some of the Eastern countries were accepted in the EU, only when USA showed interest in them and accepted them into NATO; and the Eastern Europe countries (Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria) were accepted to the EU only to be what Mexico is for the US: a new market for multinationals and a source of cheap labor.
NATO hasn't done anything since the end of WWII, it has become a slow, useless bureaucracy with a big budget to buy arms, fighter planes, etc.
4
So in his own way Trump wants to become the big bully. How appropriate for him, destructive to us and the rest of the world.
5
Since Trump has proudly stated that basically he only consults himself in global matters [probably in all matters] he is living in an echo chamber. What could possibly go wrong with that?
3
The venerable New York Times and Washington Post correctly afforded Trump a platform which presumes the legitimacy of his candidacy. He has proved that his candidacy is for real; however, I do not see his stated views as being seriously considered and his statements should be critiqued accordingly.
What I do perceive is that Trump's foreign policy proposals are consistent with the way he perceives life and the business world.. He is a master at understanding leverage, particularly keen at using economic strength against those he sees as weak. He knows how to battle those in stronger positions, such as his lenders, to at least a draw. Trump is a gladiator in the arena of a niche of the business world, one who has inflicted scars and death, and has sustained scars and gained a measure of success.
What his recent in depth interviews reveal is Trump's business strategies as limiting rather than enhancing America's status and influence in world affairs, and the advancement of our ever shrinking planet to address worsening universal threats and problems. Trump's ego centric bluster have made him an embattled billionaire in the rough and tumble world of commercial real estate but these tactics do not translate to the realm of world affairs. In business Trump has won and lost, caused financial harm to some without contributing to he advancement of mankind. If he were to implement has tactics as a world leader, the results would be similar.
What I do perceive is that Trump's foreign policy proposals are consistent with the way he perceives life and the business world.. He is a master at understanding leverage, particularly keen at using economic strength against those he sees as weak. He knows how to battle those in stronger positions, such as his lenders, to at least a draw. Trump is a gladiator in the arena of a niche of the business world, one who has inflicted scars and death, and has sustained scars and gained a measure of success.
What his recent in depth interviews reveal is Trump's business strategies as limiting rather than enhancing America's status and influence in world affairs, and the advancement of our ever shrinking planet to address worsening universal threats and problems. Trump's ego centric bluster have made him an embattled billionaire in the rough and tumble world of commercial real estate but these tactics do not translate to the realm of world affairs. In business Trump has won and lost, caused financial harm to some without contributing to he advancement of mankind. If he were to implement has tactics as a world leader, the results would be similar.
4
For the most part, a spot on assessment.
I take issue with the claim that Germany has been tougher on Russia than the US over the Ukraine. From the very beginning, this was a European issue - Ukraine was applying to be a member of the EU, not NATO. That would have been a great time for Germany to show European leadership and take ownership of the situation.
Later, when Russia moved to annex Crimea, it was Germany that lagged in response. The US was pushing for tough sanctions from day 1. However, Germany's business ties to Russia meant a delayed and weakened response.
Germany made it clear that the resolution of conflict in the area was going to be on their terms and that they were going to be the main broker. Fine - but Germany has to own the results now.
I take issue with the claim that Germany has been tougher on Russia than the US over the Ukraine. From the very beginning, this was a European issue - Ukraine was applying to be a member of the EU, not NATO. That would have been a great time for Germany to show European leadership and take ownership of the situation.
Later, when Russia moved to annex Crimea, it was Germany that lagged in response. The US was pushing for tough sanctions from day 1. However, Germany's business ties to Russia meant a delayed and weakened response.
Germany made it clear that the resolution of conflict in the area was going to be on their terms and that they were going to be the main broker. Fine - but Germany has to own the results now.
2
Many things that Trump says are partly true, and on the minds of many Americans who have witnessed, the disappearance of the middle class, factory jobs, out-sourcing and in-sourcing, trade treaties that benefits our trading partners, and the destruction of the housing market caused by the banks rescued by the American tax payers.
I personally am tired of American military adventurism, and question why we still have 70K+ troops in wealthy Korea when an armistice was signed in 1953 and NATO in 1949, with 40,000 in Germany and 50,000 in Japan
And as for our political class- 77% disapprove of congress- everyone, including liberals, conservatives, independents, Democrats, and Republicans all agree that our government is non-functioning and bought and sold by the upper 1%.
So Mr. Cohen, maybe it's time for American to head the words of George Washington who asked why we should “entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition...” In other words, we should tend to our own gardens that are filling up with weeds.
I personally am tired of American military adventurism, and question why we still have 70K+ troops in wealthy Korea when an armistice was signed in 1953 and NATO in 1949, with 40,000 in Germany and 50,000 in Japan
And as for our political class- 77% disapprove of congress- everyone, including liberals, conservatives, independents, Democrats, and Republicans all agree that our government is non-functioning and bought and sold by the upper 1%.
So Mr. Cohen, maybe it's time for American to head the words of George Washington who asked why we should “entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition...” In other words, we should tend to our own gardens that are filling up with weeds.
8
Now we know that Donald Trump would rip up the post-1945 world order,
The world — already more combustible than at any time in recent decades — may be about to become a much more dangerous place.
If the thing in the first statement that Trump wants to tear up was so successful, how is it that what is stated in the second statement got to become that way? You write with total certainty that there was no cause and effect between the two. Trump's saying that maybe there is simply because he's a lunatic . . . no other reason than that.
Very objective.
The world — already more combustible than at any time in recent decades — may be about to become a much more dangerous place.
If the thing in the first statement that Trump wants to tear up was so successful, how is it that what is stated in the second statement got to become that way? You write with total certainty that there was no cause and effect between the two. Trump's saying that maybe there is simply because he's a lunatic . . . no other reason than that.
Very objective.
Here's the thing: Donald Trump is not going to become president. Yes, he's likely the presumptive Republican nominee, but that's a function of the fact that the GOP is cracking up, and we're seeing it in real-time. Political parties have splintered in the US before, and political re-alignments have taken place in the past. We're in the middle of another one. In the meantime, the numbers show that outside of the Republican primary electorate, Donald Trump is deeply unpopular with much of the American public. He will not be president.
Having said that, there is something to be said for the fact that there exists an audience within the electorate that welcomes rhetoric that rejects the current global world order that, while it may have started out as Pax Americana, is little more than neocon-inspired American hegemony, of which Cohen is a huge proponent. Rather than question why so many people reject this view - just as many people reject the 'open borders EU' of which Cohen is also a hearty advocate - Cohen instead chooses to condemn those that don't buy into an elite view that is bankrupt and ineffectual, and does not serve the interests of citizens in both America and Europe. Cohen, as always, defends policies and views that are elitist and anti-democratic.
Having said that, there is something to be said for the fact that there exists an audience within the electorate that welcomes rhetoric that rejects the current global world order that, while it may have started out as Pax Americana, is little more than neocon-inspired American hegemony, of which Cohen is a huge proponent. Rather than question why so many people reject this view - just as many people reject the 'open borders EU' of which Cohen is also a hearty advocate - Cohen instead chooses to condemn those that don't buy into an elite view that is bankrupt and ineffectual, and does not serve the interests of citizens in both America and Europe. Cohen, as always, defends policies and views that are elitist and anti-democratic.
6
What you say has merit, and the "old" order needs to be modernized, but it cannot simply be thrown out; it must be a gradual process.
The US needs to get much smarter about the exercising of its military power, b/c up to this point in time it's had more misses than hits. First of all, it needs to understand the golden rule - no country wants an occupying army on its soil and doing so for an extended period of time generates resentment. Obama gets this but the GOP certainly doesn't.
7
What is called for, for the 21st Century is, What is the purpose of all the "institutions" and strategies that were designed to deal with real problems of the 20th century.
By continuing them and expanding them, just how does it benefit the American people? While freedom and our values are paramount, why should our allies who share the same values not foot a proportionate share of the bill in blood and treasure?
By continuing them and expanding them, just how does it benefit the American people? While freedom and our values are paramount, why should our allies who share the same values not foot a proportionate share of the bill in blood and treasure?
5
Trump is a new player in the drama, but the drama itself isn't new, or unfamiliar.
What's the most common comparison made of Trump and Cruz to others? Invariably it's to the National Socialists and Fascists of Europes intense age of angst following World War I.
We're in a similar age now, the Muslim world in disorder for the same, if in its case "religious" reasons, and the west, but particularly the U.S. in a post financial crisis age of inequality.
In 2014 Bill Moyers explored the fundamental struggle that's obscured by the costumes of politics and religion, whether the Rightists marching in Europe, or down and out Americans, Christians feeling threatened, or Muslims.
http://billmoyers.com/2014/07/17/scientists-are-beginning-to-figure-out-...
The show goes on and isn't likely to change any time soon.
What's the most common comparison made of Trump and Cruz to others? Invariably it's to the National Socialists and Fascists of Europes intense age of angst following World War I.
We're in a similar age now, the Muslim world in disorder for the same, if in its case "religious" reasons, and the west, but particularly the U.S. in a post financial crisis age of inequality.
In 2014 Bill Moyers explored the fundamental struggle that's obscured by the costumes of politics and religion, whether the Rightists marching in Europe, or down and out Americans, Christians feeling threatened, or Muslims.
http://billmoyers.com/2014/07/17/scientists-are-beginning-to-figure-out-...
The show goes on and isn't likely to change any time soon.
3
Trump is a smart business man who sees the world in a way that countries must be productive. Not stand by the way things were done in a world long gone.
With 20% of the federal inmates, not county and state jails, being illegal aliens, the US can't afford to keep bringing even more of these problems.
With 20% of the federal inmates, not county and state jails, being illegal aliens, the US can't afford to keep bringing even more of these problems.
3
yes ,,,, BUT those jails are money makers, for the owners, (friends, and financiers of trump)
2
Far from protecting Europe, America's misguided wars - which it claims are in its interests -- have placed the European project itself into question. 70 years of peaceful, careful building and integration are being fractured by the consequences - direct and indirect - of US military adventurism. After 14 years of the US declared war on terror, we now have a Caliphate, the destabilisation of the entire middle east and much of North Africa. Most Europeans would meet an American withdrawal from European defence with relief since they become the front line for America's mistakes.
Trump is a toad but judging from past performance and her evident poor judgment, Europeans will not find much relief under a Clinton administration.
And one last point. For all its focus on defense, intelligence and national security spending, US national defense was asleep at the wheel when attacked and traumatised by 19 amateurs on 9/11. It doesn't always work.
Trump is a toad but judging from past performance and her evident poor judgment, Europeans will not find much relief under a Clinton administration.
And one last point. For all its focus on defense, intelligence and national security spending, US national defense was asleep at the wheel when attacked and traumatised by 19 amateurs on 9/11. It doesn't always work.
7
Now that I read the above comment of 19 amateurs on 9/11, is a question that I have been asked constantly ever since. So far I have not have any answer to myself nor from anybody else.
I do not believe that the United States is relatively weaker. We have simply come to realize that we cannot solve all of the world problems. We never could. We failed in Vietnam. We have failed in Iraq and Afghanistan if setting up western style democracies was our aim. But these failures were not because of weakness, but rather stupidity. We should never have sent infantry into these countries in the first place. Our strength is best realized by restraint. As President Obama says: don't do stupid stuff; engage only in battles we can win.
9
The neocons have transform Pax Americana into Pox Americana. We have spent the entire 21st century destroying one country after another, using borrowed money to do so, while our infrastructure crumbled at home. Outsourcing US industry eliminated our tax base along with the middle class, turning us into a non-industrial debtor nation on its way to the third world.
Despite what the pundits say from their gated communities, Trump's call to stop the endless wars, end NATO, work with Russia, and rebuild America reflects what the majority of Americans want today. It is good to finally hear someone say it. . . we are sick and tired of propaganda masquerading as "news" on mainstream media.
The US has been in a depression since 2008; if you use the formulas from the 1980s to calculate it, unemployment has been 23% for years. That is the reality that ordinary people live with, and they know that the bought-and-paid-for establishment candidates won't help them.
Despite what the pundits say from their gated communities, Trump's call to stop the endless wars, end NATO, work with Russia, and rebuild America reflects what the majority of Americans want today. It is good to finally hear someone say it. . . we are sick and tired of propaganda masquerading as "news" on mainstream media.
The US has been in a depression since 2008; if you use the formulas from the 1980s to calculate it, unemployment has been 23% for years. That is the reality that ordinary people live with, and they know that the bought-and-paid-for establishment candidates won't help them.
7
As terrifying as Trump is, we are currently living inside what will be retained by history only as a turbulent footnote. Clinton will crush Trump in the general election. Two years from now we will say "Donald who?"
4
I abhor Trump and would never vote for him. But I must say that I find Mr. Cohen's repeated advocacy of continuous U.S.A. world patrol and control disheartening. Perhaps he could in some future column address just how our pressing domestic priorities will ever be addressed so long as so much of our national resources are devoted to foreign wars and policing efforts?
3
I have read several comments today about America defending Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia maybe loathsome but it is stable and they provide us with a place to park our military. It is probably the only place in the chaotic Middle East where this is possible and we need a military presence there. They 'tolerate' us unless of course a female soldier leaves the compound driving a car with an uncovered head.
1
"But his version of “America First” — which interestingly converges with the views of many on the left convinced that the United States should stop policing the world — looks like a recipe for cataclysm."
Yes it does, which is precisely what our very much maligned neoconservatives have been warning us about for years.
Yes it does, which is precisely what our very much maligned neoconservatives have been warning us about for years.
2
I don't know why everybody is off loading on Donald Trump while neglecting the root cause of all this. Donald Trump is a businessman who is trying to make a quick buck within the confines of Free Market Capitalism. So, the question should not be why Donald Trump doing the things that he does. The question which, in my view, is central to the future of this country is: why is the electorate so ignorant that it can not see through Donald Trump? And the answer is: Lack of education and awareness about the World and a constant barrage of inaccurate if not false dose of "news" delivered by our rating driven Media. Democracy in an ignorant nation will lead to self destruction, for ignorant people will elect ignorant leaders as we are witnessing right now.
10
You're so right. The inability to spot a fraud has become the sine qua non of American democracy. There's no cure for stupidity.
6
The Left and non-interventionist Right has been systematically attacking the "bad deal" of Pax Americana for over a decade.
The Left's narrative is that Pax Americana enriches the top 1% at the expense of the middle class and the nation itself, which is $19 trillion in debt. The narrative from the Right is that Pax Americana and U.S. bases in hundreds of locations overseas has created a Leviathan government constantly in search of new sources of income to keep it all going, and this search has led to high taxes and/or debt.
Most Americans think the current "world order" rips them off and enriches Wall Street and multinational corporations. Trump is one of the few politicians who even had the notion that the current world order wasn't a sacred cow. Sanders is similarly willing to attack sacred cows.
Trump may be completely wrong about what he thinks makes the Pax Americana a bad deal, and how to make it a good deal. His solutions could make everything worse. But he's willing to look at the "world order" with fresh eyes and he understands it's not working for average Americans.
THIS is something the centrists and the left-of-center (like Clinton) have been unwilling to discuss. This topic should be hot with NYTimes opinion writers, but you can only find it in alternative media -- consumed daily by Sanders supporters. The neoliberals dropped the ball on criticizing the "bad deal" Pax America and Trump and Sanders, to a lesser degree, have picked it up.
The Left's narrative is that Pax Americana enriches the top 1% at the expense of the middle class and the nation itself, which is $19 trillion in debt. The narrative from the Right is that Pax Americana and U.S. bases in hundreds of locations overseas has created a Leviathan government constantly in search of new sources of income to keep it all going, and this search has led to high taxes and/or debt.
Most Americans think the current "world order" rips them off and enriches Wall Street and multinational corporations. Trump is one of the few politicians who even had the notion that the current world order wasn't a sacred cow. Sanders is similarly willing to attack sacred cows.
Trump may be completely wrong about what he thinks makes the Pax Americana a bad deal, and how to make it a good deal. His solutions could make everything worse. But he's willing to look at the "world order" with fresh eyes and he understands it's not working for average Americans.
THIS is something the centrists and the left-of-center (like Clinton) have been unwilling to discuss. This topic should be hot with NYTimes opinion writers, but you can only find it in alternative media -- consumed daily by Sanders supporters. The neoliberals dropped the ball on criticizing the "bad deal" Pax America and Trump and Sanders, to a lesser degree, have picked it up.
2
Surely, just because Trump utters something doesn't mean it is wrong. If Nato is that important as a bulwark against a resurgent Russia, then surely the frontline states could match the defense outlays of the US as a percent of GDP; in fact they barely match a third of that. For the US to leave the Middle east would be one of the smartest policy moves around. Does Mr. Cohen recollect at all whose hubris caused the current disaster? Not Trump's isolationism, but the great Pax Americana. If the stakes are that high, how come not everyone is rushing to the table? Russia made the smartest move, came in, achieved what it wanted to achieve, declared victory. Not 10 years or more of a futile war with untold dead and maimed. Trump may be way off regarding the dangers of a nuclear Japan and Korea, but they are hardly worse than a nuclear India or Pakistan. Perhaps Mr. Cohen lives in a past, unable or unwilling to challenge the paradigm of the Pax Americana, when it urgently needs challenging.
The post-war setup does need a rethink. We provided free security and entered one-sided trade agreements so that other countries would not go communist. But the Cold War is over.
We need to redo our policies to take into account the changes in the world. What we provided has steep costs to the American people that are no longer warranted or sustainable.
Otherwise it is like continuing to pay the rent of a formerly unemployed relative who now has a six figure job.
It's baffling that our foreign policy experts don't recognize this ---- unless they or their think tanks are receiving emoluments from those who want to keep the gravy train going.
We need to redo our policies to take into account the changes in the world. What we provided has steep costs to the American people that are no longer warranted or sustainable.
Otherwise it is like continuing to pay the rent of a formerly unemployed relative who now has a six figure job.
It's baffling that our foreign policy experts don't recognize this ---- unless they or their think tanks are receiving emoluments from those who want to keep the gravy train going.
2
As much as the commentariat finds Trump distasteful, his instincts may be right even if his policy ideas sound dubious and ill informed. There is often a current of nostalgia in Roger Cohen's columns, a world of sensible alliances and reasonable leaders following proper political conventions. In the XIXth century he would have been a mouthpiece for the Concert of Europe. It's a comfortable bourgeois perspective that cannot come to grips with with what many of us feel in our guts and Trump exploits, the sham of a world order held together by monetary policies, trade agreements, NATO and other military alliances and the UN and that progresses from crisis to crisis through tinkering.
Trump is a clown! A true representative of all republicans. They are a perfect fit, and that is why Trump will be their candidate in November. Fortunately, Trump will not win the election. Moreover, Trump will do great damage to other republicans running at that time.
4
The Times gave Trump a soapbox, and based on comments on the Times article, he used it to appeal to a lot of Times readers who feel pretty much the way he does. We do know is that up to now, European countries as well as Japan and Korea have been spending very little of their budgets and GDP on defense, something that US presidents have been pointing out for years. Of course, we need to keep NATO and other alliances going, but it's questionable whether we should have backed the UK-France decision to invade Libya, which is now dysfunctional. Trump is stating his opening position, which he is willing to negotiate. He's not the best candidate to do that, but it's not a bad thing if he's shaking up the complacency of Europe, Japan and Korea.
1
Essentially many of Trump's ideas are lifted from Obama.He took a yellow magic marker to the Atlantic magazine piece on Obama recently and thought 'let's exaggerate this stuff and come on like a tough guy.'The difference is that it's Obama who has been the great negotiator. He hasn't telegraphed his moves as Trump has done....just quiet diplomacy. He is shifting from the middle east to Asia where he sees more opportunity for the US but ,at the same time,he has given the signal to Europe and the middle eastern countries that they have to get more involved.Trump doesn't realize that most of that military aide is given in the form of weaponry which is "made in the USA."If he cuts this stuff (which I'm not against) there go a bunch of jobs here at home. The problem with Trump is that he hasn't thought through what he says and he would actually be a terrible negotiator.Negotionations in the real estate world are usually between parties that want the same thing.Sadly for Mr Trump this ain't how the rest or the world works.
7
IN 1938, we looked the other way with Hitler's annexation of Austria. In 1939, America ignored the invasion of Poland. They were "small countries" not pulling their weight as Mr. Trump would characterize it today. Mr. Trump would have probably admired Hitler's strong "leadership", as another cult of personality that incited attacks against the "others" who were "losers."
So it comes as no surprise that Mr. Trump dismisses "little" countries like Estonia. So what if Russian takes Estonia again, and never mind it was free, democratic republic in 1921 until the Nazis invaded it, and the Russians stole it as WWII prize of war -- instead of restoring its democratic government.
And what would Russia gain by seizing Estonia: a really good ice-free port in the Baltic that the don't have. Oh and why not let them take the other Baltic states too, you know like Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. They are "losers" in Mr. Trumps world, you know because the treat women and kids well, help in outsized ways for crises in other parts of the world.
Mr.Trump would probably cut a winning deal for America with Putin, right. In exchange for Russia taking the Baltic counties, America would get the sole concession for Trump casinos in the Baltic. And we'd get the concession for "Make Russia Great Again" hats and other apparel instead of the Chinese who make such things. A really great deal...but not for the world let alone Estonia or the other Baltic countries.
The Estionians are worried. I am.
So it comes as no surprise that Mr. Trump dismisses "little" countries like Estonia. So what if Russian takes Estonia again, and never mind it was free, democratic republic in 1921 until the Nazis invaded it, and the Russians stole it as WWII prize of war -- instead of restoring its democratic government.
And what would Russia gain by seizing Estonia: a really good ice-free port in the Baltic that the don't have. Oh and why not let them take the other Baltic states too, you know like Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. They are "losers" in Mr. Trumps world, you know because the treat women and kids well, help in outsized ways for crises in other parts of the world.
Mr.Trump would probably cut a winning deal for America with Putin, right. In exchange for Russia taking the Baltic counties, America would get the sole concession for Trump casinos in the Baltic. And we'd get the concession for "Make Russia Great Again" hats and other apparel instead of the Chinese who make such things. A really great deal...but not for the world let alone Estonia or the other Baltic countries.
The Estionians are worried. I am.
6
You do know Estonia is a member of the EU right? Maybe the EU can form a regional military alliance against Russia? Why should the US do all the heavy lifting for global security and still get blamed when things go wrong like in Iraq?
1
Hitler's march across Europe (the Rhineland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland) was a European problem, not an American one. The U.S. foreign policy in those days was an isolationist one; you are projecting a post-WWII foreign policy to the 1930s. Britain and France very famously signed an agreement with Hitler in Munich where he promised very sincerely that he would take no more territory after the Sudetenland. He lied.
Trump, a businessman, ranting about our trade deficit with China and threatening it with 45% tariffs seems a bit rich. It indicates that Trump either does not have a lot of business interests in China or has been rebuffed in trying to expand the Trump brand there? Nonetheless, he does have a point about China’s rise on the world stage, which has been primarily advanced by unbridled U.S. business interests, ever since Nixon opened the door to the Middle Kingdom in 1972.
Unlike our success with similar business and political ties with Germany and Japan, which we had vanquished in WWII, China fought us to a draw in Korea and that stalemate still lingers. While rapprochement with China during the height of the Cold War was strategically brilliant, a mid-course correction in our China policy (both foreign and business related) was required after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. But our business interests were too deeply entrenched by then and we let the leviathan grow to what it has become today.
So Trump is right about the threat that China poses, but he is shooting from the hip about what we should do about it. We used China to counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War; it might be time to reverse that policy now – cozy up to Russia to counter China in the 21st century? Such a move might make it easier to more rapidly advance our growing strategic partnership with India, the other rising Asian tiger, and Russia’s Cold War ally. It’s a win-win-win.
Unlike our success with similar business and political ties with Germany and Japan, which we had vanquished in WWII, China fought us to a draw in Korea and that stalemate still lingers. While rapprochement with China during the height of the Cold War was strategically brilliant, a mid-course correction in our China policy (both foreign and business related) was required after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. But our business interests were too deeply entrenched by then and we let the leviathan grow to what it has become today.
So Trump is right about the threat that China poses, but he is shooting from the hip about what we should do about it. We used China to counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War; it might be time to reverse that policy now – cozy up to Russia to counter China in the 21st century? Such a move might make it easier to more rapidly advance our growing strategic partnership with India, the other rising Asian tiger, and Russia’s Cold War ally. It’s a win-win-win.
4
Yes, Mr. Cohen, goodbye to all that. All that nonsense in Iraq. All our obsequiousness to the Saudis and the Israelis. All the paralysis in Syria. All the failed brinksmanship, the redlines in the sand, the bullying by a an ex-KGB thug, to the murders of our ambassador and security team in Libya, to the complete lack of any idea how to confront terrorism, domestic or foreign, to the failure of cold-war policy in a post-cold war world.
So yes, we need a re-set. And what is wrong with starting from the premise that our interests are primary? That is, after all, what we pay our leadership to protect--our interests. Recent leadership seems to have forgotten that, choosing instead to serve either the interests of its cronies in the case of President Bush and VP Cheney, or some misguided notion of doing good by doing nothing in the case of President Obama.
And the fact is that Trump is right in his assessment that the leadership could have gone to the beach and we would be better off. So let's try putting America first and see how that works. Couldn't be any worse.
So yes, we need a re-set. And what is wrong with starting from the premise that our interests are primary? That is, after all, what we pay our leadership to protect--our interests. Recent leadership seems to have forgotten that, choosing instead to serve either the interests of its cronies in the case of President Bush and VP Cheney, or some misguided notion of doing good by doing nothing in the case of President Obama.
And the fact is that Trump is right in his assessment that the leadership could have gone to the beach and we would be better off. So let's try putting America first and see how that works. Couldn't be any worse.
5
Hand Korea and Japan nuclear weapons, dump our agreement with Iran and encourage them and Saudi Arabia to develop nukes, and you'll see worse real quick.
4
If America is going broke because of all those bad deals and all that free trade why is it that The Donald has gotten so filthy rich and has continued to make so much money? Beware of billionaires lecturing the rest of us on the nation's economic problems.
9
Do not forget that Mr Trump is against China business but if you go and ties and shirts in the stores that sell Mr Trump's products they all say Made in China. Can anyone tell me why?.
1
Just like Mike Bloomberg running New York City for 12 long years right Stu.
If we take Trump's foreign policy statements at face value, then a Trump presidency would lead to dangerous instability and unpredictability in world affairs. Power is relative and it abhors a vacuum, of which Russia and China would like to take advantage.
US post-war foreign policy was adopted to prevent another world war between the major powers, and it has worked for the past 70 years. Abandoning it will make another world war, this one with nukes, more likely.
US post-war foreign policy was adopted to prevent another world war between the major powers, and it has worked for the past 70 years. Abandoning it will make another world war, this one with nukes, more likely.
6
The president of the US is the president of this country, not Estonia. He is the president of the US, not "humanity." Continuing the fantasy of an endless Pax Americana can only mean the further impoverishment of the American middle class and the continued erosion and destruction of our infrastructure. Both Sanders and Trump voters are concerned that elites like Cohen don't really care about that. Between a Pax Americana and a purblind isolationism, Trump is suggesting that if the US is going to play an outsize role in the world it shouldn't do it simply as a favor to our "allies" like Saudia Arabia and the industries that thrive on endless war. Someone has to pay for it. Trump has the weird idea that those being protected ought to pay for it.
22
I agree with you Burroughs... I just don't want n ego-driven dangerous blowhard like Trump as the man responsible for making new policy with the rest of the world.
1
That Trump's world view approximates the picture seen through a kaleidoscope lens (but without pretty colors) gives us insight into the man's mental state. It is, like a kaleidoscopic scene, fractured in the extreme. He walks in an alternate reality from the rest of us, even --and especially-- those who support him and want to believe that he is their savior.
Trump's mental state is disintegrating. I predict that well before the election, and likely before the Republican convention, his break from reality will be complete.
Trump's mental state is disintegrating. I predict that well before the election, and likely before the Republican convention, his break from reality will be complete.
15
More than one qualified observer has pointed out what appears to be a serious personality disorder in Trump. Were he to somehow actually realize the presidency, the ego trip would turn a disorder into a full blown psychosis.
While you have evidence for your conclusion he is and will stay crazy. I think there is significant evidence to support the theory that he is perfectly in control of his faculties and will move toward "the center" and to "reality" if he is the nominee.
I do not know whose ideas the nominee Mr. Trump will present in the Fall. In any event, the ideas he has been expressing to date are absolutely crazy.
The concerns of his supporters will need to be addressed by Mrs. Clinton. She can do that without craziness and without shedding her principles, but a new approach is required rather than what the Democrats and Republicans have offered them for decades.
I do not know whose ideas the nominee Mr. Trump will present in the Fall. In any event, the ideas he has been expressing to date are absolutely crazy.
The concerns of his supporters will need to be addressed by Mrs. Clinton. She can do that without craziness and without shedding her principles, but a new approach is required rather than what the Democrats and Republicans have offered them for decades.
Yes, so much of what Donald Trump says is disordered and dangerous, but his appeal is massive, while this column retreats to an obsolete world view many, many Americans no longer share.
It speaks of not dismantling the security of a specific "postwar architecture." That "postwar" was 70 years ago. We are no longer in it, and to call it such is to live in the past. Keeping troops throughout the world, at extravagant expense, is no longer rational. Trump's statements about no longer supporting other countries highly capable of bearing that expense themselves will likely have broad appeal.
When Trump taps into bigotry regarding Hispanics and Muslims, he brings out the worst in us. When he proposes saving billions by no longer policing the world at our own expense, he is on different footing - in a territory many of us would like to enter, but our politicians have not the courage to broach.
It speaks of not dismantling the security of a specific "postwar architecture." That "postwar" was 70 years ago. We are no longer in it, and to call it such is to live in the past. Keeping troops throughout the world, at extravagant expense, is no longer rational. Trump's statements about no longer supporting other countries highly capable of bearing that expense themselves will likely have broad appeal.
When Trump taps into bigotry regarding Hispanics and Muslims, he brings out the worst in us. When he proposes saving billions by no longer policing the world at our own expense, he is on different footing - in a territory many of us would like to enter, but our politicians have not the courage to broach.
128
If our capitalists paid for the armies we use to protect them, the U.S. would have plenty of money. Instead, we pay for the armies while the capitalists get rid of inheritance taxes to build their fortunes higher over generations.
2
Annoy Trump supporters "Think for yourself"
First of all, "postwar" was by no means 70 years ago. All of Europe (and the U.S. and Russia, for that matter) lived in a world directly shaped by WW2 at least until the 1990s. Secondly, and more importantly, you present no argument whatsoever as to why this post-war architecture would be obsolete. The fact alone that the war ended 70 years says nothing to this effect. As much as I would like the world to be such safe place that U.S. troops are no longer needed in many places, reality seems to be of a rather different kind.
2
While beyond the grasp of Trump, under the changed international situation the US with all its intellectual, scientific, technological, and economic prowess could still play the America first, but only the first among the equals, not to police the globe, but to help solve tricky global problems with international cooperation.
6
Trump is not a politician, There might be a lot of things that he said that may or may not be correct. But a lot of what he said is true, such things as we are paying out to much money to protect allies which in return could and should be absorbing more of the cost of protection from the United states than they are. The second thing that i look at when it comes to Trump, Would the U.S. be better off with Trump or Hillary Clinton. This woman would be the continuation of more Obama failed policy and not to mention to bring about her her own failed policies not only here at home but in foreign policies as well. She has already proved that she cannot be truthful with the American people. I do not always agree with Trump but at the same token I will never believe in anything that Hillary says. My final thought about the Democratic party in this election. First of all, There is nothing in the world that is for [Free] . Secondly, The biggest mistake this country could make is to allow Citizenship to all these Illegal Immigrants into this country. Wake up America before it is too late.
4
How much money is too much? How do you measure what we get in return from our investment in global alliances?
Mr. Trump may not be a politician but he is not a statesman either.
Saying politically incorrect things is not the same as speaking wisely or truthfully! Nor is it a qualification for leader of the most powerful country in the world.
Mr. Trump may not be a politician but he is not a statesman either.
Saying politically incorrect things is not the same as speaking wisely or truthfully! Nor is it a qualification for leader of the most powerful country in the world.
16
Obama's failed policies:
1.Chemical weapons removed from Syria without starting another war
2.Helped millions of uninsured people get Healthcare and stopped the insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-exising conditions.
3. Got out of Iraq
4. Got a treaty signed with Iran
5. Opened up trade with Cuba
He has conducted himself in a statesmen like manner even though he faced Republican obstinance and racism.
1.Chemical weapons removed from Syria without starting another war
2.Helped millions of uninsured people get Healthcare and stopped the insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-exising conditions.
3. Got out of Iraq
4. Got a treaty signed with Iran
5. Opened up trade with Cuba
He has conducted himself in a statesmen like manner even though he faced Republican obstinance and racism.
5
The conversation about how much we spend on their defense is taking place in a vacuum. Trump talks about how much we spend, but he provides no figures. He talks about how much we have been snookered, but provides no examples. He speaks as though our alliance system was constructed by idiots, and then offers no examples to back his point. His provides no substance to his criticisms. Once again, he speaks in broad generalities that appeal to people who want to blame "the other."
As the article points out, he knows nothing about Germany's role in dealing with the Ukraine question. Not every conflict can or ought to be solved militarily, but in his world diplomacy is for wimps. Furthermore, he thinks that if a country is not supplying military personnel on the frontline, they are coping out. Germany undertook the building and training of the national police force in Afghanistan. While it does not sound glamorous, it is a need that someone has to fill because if an when this war ends, the country will need a police force. It has not been done without sacrifice and loss of life to thier personnel.
A candidate who "believes" certain things to be true has to have facts. You may be entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to the facts. So, Donald, if you are a serious candidate and not a clown, give us the facts and stop bloviating.
As the article points out, he knows nothing about Germany's role in dealing with the Ukraine question. Not every conflict can or ought to be solved militarily, but in his world diplomacy is for wimps. Furthermore, he thinks that if a country is not supplying military personnel on the frontline, they are coping out. Germany undertook the building and training of the national police force in Afghanistan. While it does not sound glamorous, it is a need that someone has to fill because if an when this war ends, the country will need a police force. It has not been done without sacrifice and loss of life to thier personnel.
A candidate who "believes" certain things to be true has to have facts. You may be entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to the facts. So, Donald, if you are a serious candidate and not a clown, give us the facts and stop bloviating.
20
There's a kernel of reality in what Trump preaches. America is over-extended, and old organizations are not equipped to deal with the growing disasters, military or natural. However, doing right is at least as important as being right.
Exquisite skill is called for in many branches of surgery. We cannot risk Trump telling us the operation was a success, but the patient died. There's a game involving a stack of little sticks. In turn, players pull a stick out carefully, until one pulls the wrong stick and collapses the whole. Trump is another metaphor--a bull in a china shop.
Exquisite skill is called for in many branches of surgery. We cannot risk Trump telling us the operation was a success, but the patient died. There's a game involving a stack of little sticks. In turn, players pull a stick out carefully, until one pulls the wrong stick and collapses the whole. Trump is another metaphor--a bull in a china shop.
2
Frankly, I think many readers, can't understand why Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, and Canada are held up by pundits as super and just places to live while at the same time being rightly critical of conditions our poor people live. My concern is that the USA is currently unable to fund reform of schools, employ its citizens and rebuild its infrastructure. Let's learn from Norway and Sweden and invest in Americans. It doesn't mean that we withdraw from the world militarily it simply means that wealthy countries, that were poor in 1945-1970, can pay a fair share.
12
Well put Redneck.
(Just wondering if a more liberal guy like me is a blueneck??)
Anyway, I like your take but I'll add this:
The tax policies of the countries you mention have made them the most fair and equal in wealth distribution on the planet.
Like a pie with five almost even pieces - each piece is the total wealth of each 20% of their population.
So, no one segment of society is so much more affluent than another. Which is good for an economy and the politics of a nation. (Concentrated wealth causes lots of problems) Those nations do pretty well and could devote more to their defense.
Two things-
Our American pie would look like one giant piece about 2/3 of the pie and the other four slices shrinking in size till the bottom 50% were little slivers. Not good.
And here's the kicker: The vast majority of Americans, when polled, want our wealth distribution pie to look like all those "social democracies" you mentioned.
People know intuitively what's causing our problems.
Too much wealth and influence at the top.
(Just wondering if a more liberal guy like me is a blueneck??)
Anyway, I like your take but I'll add this:
The tax policies of the countries you mention have made them the most fair and equal in wealth distribution on the planet.
Like a pie with five almost even pieces - each piece is the total wealth of each 20% of their population.
So, no one segment of society is so much more affluent than another. Which is good for an economy and the politics of a nation. (Concentrated wealth causes lots of problems) Those nations do pretty well and could devote more to their defense.
Two things-
Our American pie would look like one giant piece about 2/3 of the pie and the other four slices shrinking in size till the bottom 50% were little slivers. Not good.
And here's the kicker: The vast majority of Americans, when polled, want our wealth distribution pie to look like all those "social democracies" you mentioned.
People know intuitively what's causing our problems.
Too much wealth and influence at the top.
3
Paul: Many Rednecks and 'Bluenecks' are cut from the same cloth these days! In the Florida primary I was a registered 'Democrat'. I voted for Sanders. I have never voted for a Republican in my life. Trump is a huge problem for me because some of the positions he takes need to be examined yet I worry about his personality. If he gets through the primary and matures as a candidate I will take a second look.
2
Trump has said that he would not discount war with China, of all places. The U.S. owes over 1.2 trillion dollars to China. If China were to call even a portion of that debt, U.S. interest rates would rise and the global economy would be in worse decline than in 2008. If China decided to really screw up the world, they could call the entire debt, which would blow up the world economy, including their own. But, China has never exhibited any empathy for its own people--starvation and privation have been experienced there before. Trump should tread very carefully where China is concerned. Of course, since we can't believe anything Trump says, maybe his comment should just be ignored. He's "unpredictable", so who knows what anything he says really means?
5
Why Shoot the messenger. It is his message that counts.
Trump may be defeated by the concerted efforts of Establishment Democrats and Republicans joined for political expediency. But they will not be able to stop the ideas that this loudmouth so eloquently shouts out for anyone to hear. He is the mouthpiece for those who have lost their voice.
Trump is the child who shouts that Emperor has no clothes – that our Socratic Republic – the government of the people, for the people, of the people - has morphed into a Democracy, the rule of the Demos, the 5% (nay 1%) moneyed males who rule over the rest – women, plebs, slaves, and ready to poison any brave thinking man into silence.
After doing away with Trump the Establishment may see no more of him. But we shall still see broken roads and broken homes, falling bridges and infrastructure, decimated neighborhoods, polluted drinking water, disappearing industry. Is it our destiny to become a resource industry for China and India supplying them cheap food and almost free oil as Arabs did for the last 100 years?
Our Cohens would love that, for they can make money even when we are being shafted.
Trump may be defeated by the concerted efforts of Establishment Democrats and Republicans joined for political expediency. But they will not be able to stop the ideas that this loudmouth so eloquently shouts out for anyone to hear. He is the mouthpiece for those who have lost their voice.
Trump is the child who shouts that Emperor has no clothes – that our Socratic Republic – the government of the people, for the people, of the people - has morphed into a Democracy, the rule of the Demos, the 5% (nay 1%) moneyed males who rule over the rest – women, plebs, slaves, and ready to poison any brave thinking man into silence.
After doing away with Trump the Establishment may see no more of him. But we shall still see broken roads and broken homes, falling bridges and infrastructure, decimated neighborhoods, polluted drinking water, disappearing industry. Is it our destiny to become a resource industry for China and India supplying them cheap food and almost free oil as Arabs did for the last 100 years?
Our Cohens would love that, for they can make money even when we are being shafted.
7
But Trump is the emperor not wearing any clothes!
Nice anti-semitic turn there at the end.
1
The problem with Trumps ideas about foreign policy is that he doesn't get that if US will withdraw their troops and support from Europe, Middle East, Asia, etc., then he would create a power vacuum. US influence would be diminished, and other world powers would take over in their place. The world would become is less stable place for this reason, and the relatively peacefull period after 1945 and especially 1990 would end. What new world order would emerge? Nobody knows.
Then you can say it is not fair that US has to be the power that holds the world together. I can certainly understand that point of view, and we in Europe and elsewhere should all be grateful for the dominance of US. But the fact is that *everybody* looses if US withdraws their military influence. The world will be a less stable place, and hence also economically poorer, if this happen. So I can only hope that the people of US will never elect a person like Trump for president.
Then you can say it is not fair that US has to be the power that holds the world together. I can certainly understand that point of view, and we in Europe and elsewhere should all be grateful for the dominance of US. But the fact is that *everybody* looses if US withdraws their military influence. The world will be a less stable place, and hence also economically poorer, if this happen. So I can only hope that the people of US will never elect a person like Trump for president.
5
For anyone who is hoping that Trump loses the nomination/election and this disgraceful period in America comes to an end; Beware and abandon all hope. This is not someone who is going to be content with his time as the focus of American politics and fade away, ala Romney. If he loses there will be accusations of a fix, that a vast conspiracy rigged something to deny him what he considers rightfully his. His supporters will be close behind him as they have already demonstrated that truth, facts, and reality are of no concern to them. The aftermath of him losing could be just as destructive and divisive as the aftermath of him being elected. It is not hyperbole to suggest that we are in the midst of a serious crisis in our political and democratic development, possibly a crisis to rival any in our history. I recently came to the conclusion that this country, in its present form, will not exist within a hundred years without a catastrophe that unites us and if we do not unite that catastrophe will unalterably divide us. What happens between now and the period after the election could determine if that catastrophe happens sooner or later. One hundred years could be an optimistic guess.
6
He isn't running with any concerns for anything other than for himself and he feels entitled to become president without the requisite number of delegates - and even without really campaigning for the job, other than some speeches and twittering.
What you're predicting - that Trump will raise hell, file lawsuits and demand investigations - all seems quite plausible to me. If we know anything about him, he's angry, irrational and a sore loser.....
What you're predicting - that Trump will raise hell, file lawsuits and demand investigations - all seems quite plausible to me. If we know anything about him, he's angry, irrational and a sore loser.....
7
Abraham Lincoln said America will die by its own hand, how prescient of him.
40
If Trump is denied the Republican nomination he'll run some sort of 3d-party candidacy -- we've seen those before.
Trump is not going to win the general election, even if he can get the GOP nomination. Too many people loathe and fear the idea of a Trump presidency, lots of Republicans included.
I think it likely that Trump will found a Berlusconi-like neo-fascist party ... it might get as much as 15 - 20% of the American electorate. The question is how long it lasts, and who takes it over. Trump doesn't have the patience or the staying power, and he is nothing like a natural leader (one can say "El Lider") of his people.
Trump is not going to win the general election, even if he can get the GOP nomination. Too many people loathe and fear the idea of a Trump presidency, lots of Republicans included.
I think it likely that Trump will found a Berlusconi-like neo-fascist party ... it might get as much as 15 - 20% of the American electorate. The question is how long it lasts, and who takes it over. Trump doesn't have the patience or the staying power, and he is nothing like a natural leader (one can say "El Lider") of his people.
3
It seems to me that a lot of Trump's popularity could have been and still could be offset by higher taxes on those earning $750,000 individual or $1.25 million couple; a sort of GI bill for workers displaced by trade agreements; free qualified full-day child care for those with low incomes or on welfare; free tuituition at public universities for those who qualify; free vocational programs for those at the poverty level who do not qualify for a university education or who choose not to attend; as many dollars as necessary to rebuild the country's infrastructure therely supplying jobs, money spent in local communities, and tax $s to Social Security and state and federal coffers generally; increasing retirement ages for those under 45 from 62 to 63.5 and from 67 to 68.5; continuing to allow women the right to control their own reproductive ability; allowing illegal immigrants a path to legal residency, and most of all a leader who does not lead from behind. The only people running for president who meet most of this criteria are Sanders, Clinton and Kasich. A vote for anyone else is a vote for America's downfall.
3
Straight to the heart of the matter, Roger - as usual.
As Mr Sanger has done - or has attempted given the density of the Trump fog - has to become standard operating procedure for the US media. Trump's been afforded more free passes and puff ball questions than Sarah Palin. Has the press's sense of itself shifted so much since 2008?
Why this sudden reticence to challenge a certifiable dolt? The more that's exposed, the more we recognize that aside from some ability to trade in real estate, the man has proved a flop in most other endeavours and an infantile streak on everything else. What other than a child can evince an entirely absent sense of consequence for his actions?
While taking occasional pot shots at Obama, the press, for the most part has indulged itself in all sorts of false equivalence, essentially sleep walking through two decades worth of festering big-picture issues that now threaten over 7 billion humans. So, no more scattershot interviews with Trump and Cruz por favor; no more making due with indefensible answers. What would Roger Cohen do?
The noise of this interminable circus has caught the world's attention. Kleptocracies aside, first world citizens will hold their politicos on a very short leash should a Trump presidency come to pass. In that very instant, the world order will change: any of our elected officials caught dealing with this Bush Leaguer will have his or her career cut short post-haste. And they'd be well to recognize it now.
As Mr Sanger has done - or has attempted given the density of the Trump fog - has to become standard operating procedure for the US media. Trump's been afforded more free passes and puff ball questions than Sarah Palin. Has the press's sense of itself shifted so much since 2008?
Why this sudden reticence to challenge a certifiable dolt? The more that's exposed, the more we recognize that aside from some ability to trade in real estate, the man has proved a flop in most other endeavours and an infantile streak on everything else. What other than a child can evince an entirely absent sense of consequence for his actions?
While taking occasional pot shots at Obama, the press, for the most part has indulged itself in all sorts of false equivalence, essentially sleep walking through two decades worth of festering big-picture issues that now threaten over 7 billion humans. So, no more scattershot interviews with Trump and Cruz por favor; no more making due with indefensible answers. What would Roger Cohen do?
The noise of this interminable circus has caught the world's attention. Kleptocracies aside, first world citizens will hold their politicos on a very short leash should a Trump presidency come to pass. In that very instant, the world order will change: any of our elected officials caught dealing with this Bush Leaguer will have his or her career cut short post-haste. And they'd be well to recognize it now.
4
"...The presence of the United States as an Asian power offsetting China’s rise..." The Chinese are biding their time until we are weakened enough by our trade giveaways that we will simply accede to their aggressions. Trump is not far off the mark when he says we don't have money - our expanding debt levels are only tolerable now because China is loaning us money. Eventually we will have to give back the money or pay them back in real assets, which means more power for them, less for us. Trump is correct that a re-balancing of our international relations - economic and military - is needed. Within a few decades Europe will have at least a few states that are Islamic religious states (check the emerging demographics, now hastened by the heavy Islamic migration to Europe) so Europe - collectively - will not be the reliable democratic, secular ally that it has been. Trump might not have all the details right, but he gets the general drift better than the others and understands that the U.S. needs to push back against the insidious trends now moving world events.
33
But he and his ilk are the ones that made China our rival by moving jobs there. They agreed to the horrible conditions and slave labor, didn't care about human rights as long as they go their cheap labor and shared their intelligence with China - thus creating the behemoth that is threatening us today in the top area - jobs. I think if more people had good paying jobs and weren't so insecure there would less anger at the "other."
All the business people who gave China power in terms of jobs and knowledge should be charged with treason not given the highest office in the land.
All the business people who gave China power in terms of jobs and knowledge should be charged with treason not given the highest office in the land.
Our debt levels are not expanding, they are decreasing. You have been listening to the Republican P.R. machine.
Trump, and his vision of America's proper role in the world, refute the tiresome notion that business leaders possess the best qualifications for president. Like any entrepreneur preoccupied with the bottom line, Trump evaluates America's foreign obligations in terms of revenue and costs. If we provide military or economic aid to a country, does that investment pay off in jobs or profitable sales to that country? If not, then that country "owes" us the difference between our outlay and the benefits we receive from our investment.
Trump ignores the substantial advantages we and our allies derive from a more stable, peaceful world in which people can live and businesses operate without the constant threat of war or other forms of violence. An accountant cannot enter these intangible benefits on a balance sheet, so from Trump's perspective, they don't count. Likewise, measuring the impact of shifting resources away from the military toward investments in the civilian economy would require a different definition of profit than any accountant would use.
Governments often have to subsidize long-term investments in scientific and technological research because the profit horizon exceeds the time periods businesses consider acceptable. For the same reason, any calculation of the benefits the US receives from its international commitments must be measured in decades, not months or years. Trump the businessman simply doesn't think in those terms.
Trump ignores the substantial advantages we and our allies derive from a more stable, peaceful world in which people can live and businesses operate without the constant threat of war or other forms of violence. An accountant cannot enter these intangible benefits on a balance sheet, so from Trump's perspective, they don't count. Likewise, measuring the impact of shifting resources away from the military toward investments in the civilian economy would require a different definition of profit than any accountant would use.
Governments often have to subsidize long-term investments in scientific and technological research because the profit horizon exceeds the time periods businesses consider acceptable. For the same reason, any calculation of the benefits the US receives from its international commitments must be measured in decades, not months or years. Trump the businessman simply doesn't think in those terms.
313
"...the substantial advantages we and our allies derive from a more stable, peaceful world in which people can live and businesses operate without the constant threat of war or other forms of violence.'
This is an idealistic statement describing an idealistic world. What have we been witnessing lately?
This is an idealistic statement describing an idealistic world. What have we been witnessing lately?
1
James Lee: Your brief analysis of why a long-term view of our foreign relations is wiser than Trump's short-sighted opportunism should be at the center of any discussion about the dangers posed by his candidacy. Thank you.
2
And yet, somehow, countries like China and Russia who do not "invest" in other nations are able to do quite well in the world. No, the US cannot afford to be the guarantor of security in the world, and other nations need to start pulling their own weight.
1
"So much for Pax Americana; it was a bad deal, you see"
The neocon version of it we've lived with this century WAS a bad deal, and we need to be rid of that.
What W and Cheney did is nothing remotely like what Eisenhower would have done. THAT was the real Pax Americana.
What Cohen is defending here is the neocon perversion of it.
Now Trump's attack on that neocon version over reaches. The US economy is so big and draws on the world supply and market for so much that we cannot entirely retreat, as Eisenhower and George Marshall clearly understood.
But that does not justify what W did, nor Cohen's effort to sell that when they did it or justify the same thinking now.
The neocon version of it we've lived with this century WAS a bad deal, and we need to be rid of that.
What W and Cheney did is nothing remotely like what Eisenhower would have done. THAT was the real Pax Americana.
What Cohen is defending here is the neocon perversion of it.
Now Trump's attack on that neocon version over reaches. The US economy is so big and draws on the world supply and market for so much that we cannot entirely retreat, as Eisenhower and George Marshall clearly understood.
But that does not justify what W did, nor Cohen's effort to sell that when they did it or justify the same thinking now.
73
I don't agree with Cohen, and I've known Mark to stand up for fairness. He knows well that neocons have a tight grip on both political parties (Aka. Coke and Pepsi.).
Obama was just as controlled by the neocons as GWB. And Clinton will be more controlled. So much that she may receive an honorary citizenship from Netanyahu. The destabilization of North Africa, particularly Libya, and the total mess in Syria rest squarely in the laps of Obama and Clinton.
The US and its NATO lackeys capitulated to the will of Cold War resurrection group (George Soros, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, for example) to have another dangerous go at Russia. Libya, Syria, and Ukraine were all strong allies of Putin and NATO by destabilizing them aimed at Russia.
Obama was just as controlled by the neocons as GWB. And Clinton will be more controlled. So much that she may receive an honorary citizenship from Netanyahu. The destabilization of North Africa, particularly Libya, and the total mess in Syria rest squarely in the laps of Obama and Clinton.
The US and its NATO lackeys capitulated to the will of Cold War resurrection group (George Soros, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, for example) to have another dangerous go at Russia. Libya, Syria, and Ukraine were all strong allies of Putin and NATO by destabilizing them aimed at Russia.
The Pax Americana was also Nixon and Kissinger in Chile, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, East Pakistan and East Timor. Not a great record.
The US has not seen a George Marshall since, well, George Marshall.
The US has not seen a George Marshall since, well, George Marshall.
Why not discuss the opinions of the drunk guy on the barstool sitting next to anyone who just wants him shut up with his wacked out comments which he alone is convinced are sane? The guy is not with reality.
Same thing as giving any valuable space or thought to one Mr. Donald J. Trump.
A waste of all of our time.
No one in their right mind would ever think the drunk should be taken seriously much less vote for the shnook!
Unless they were as desperately uninformed and unserious as him.
Same thing as giving any valuable space or thought to one Mr. Donald J. Trump.
A waste of all of our time.
No one in their right mind would ever think the drunk should be taken seriously much less vote for the shnook!
Unless they were as desperately uninformed and unserious as him.
19
Where have you been? You are in denial. Don't take him seriously at your own peril.
2
I never fail to be impressed by the high ethical principles that are displayed by liberal Times columnists and their liberal readers, especially those whose main interest in world affairs is bashing Republicans. I myself make it a practice to always pay my taxes and library fines and obey the traffic laws. But that, I suppose, just isn’t good enough for the perfect people who in the past seven years have given our country just the right amount of political correctness and failed social policies needed to ensure the election of Mr.Trump.
4
What's wrong by 'high ethical principles? Failed social policies, such as ACA? Name some, please.
2
Blaming "the Liburahs" for Trump is really funny. Good luck with that.
4
I agree with Mr. Cohen that the U.S. plays a vital role in maintaining the security of Europe and Asia. Putin is a brute who would love to re-establish Russian dominance over (at least) eastern Europe, and Japan and South Korea would be craters by now, if it wasn't for U.S. military power checking North Korea's latest nutso "dear leader."
But Saudi Arabia ... hmm. that's different. The Saudis have been exporting their terrorists (and likely financing them) for decades. That works out for the House of Saud, I guess, since it means the terrorists aren't largely targeting them. But it hasn't been so great for us.
Frankly, I think we might have been better off if we'd like the Iraqi army roll into Saudi Arabia from Kuwait in 1991. Yes, Saddam was a repressive dictator, but so are the Saudi leaders.
We never should have been Hessians for the Saudis. Maybe it is time we cut them off.
But Saudi Arabia ... hmm. that's different. The Saudis have been exporting their terrorists (and likely financing them) for decades. That works out for the House of Saud, I guess, since it means the terrorists aren't largely targeting them. But it hasn't been so great for us.
Frankly, I think we might have been better off if we'd like the Iraqi army roll into Saudi Arabia from Kuwait in 1991. Yes, Saddam was a repressive dictator, but so are the Saudi leaders.
We never should have been Hessians for the Saudis. Maybe it is time we cut them off.
The America First Committee started 4 Sepember 1940 - and ended 3 days after the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941. Non-intervention in Europe's and Asia's affairs - "America Firsters", promoted and headed by Charles Lindbergh, formed the "America First Committee" on 4 September 1940. And the United States plunged into cataclysmic World War II. One could argue that the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and WWI were equally catastrophic in America history, but America and her allies ended World War II with two atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945. If Donald Trump is elected to the Presidency in 8 months, we will all suffer a country filled with fear and anxiety and xenophobia. A terrible deal. There is no Republican Tea Party candidate worthy of the Presidency. The little three, leftover from the original 17 GOP wannabe POTUSes - Trump, Cruz and Kasich - are unelectable and unviable. America's future is unreadable, except for the writing on the wall which Donald Trump has perhaps understood, that he "has been judged and found wanting" at Belshazzar's Feast and that his country, Babylon (Iraq) was given to the Iranians and the Persians. The past is prologue. America, fools for Trump, are in the midst of Belshazzar's Feast.
4
Why are some reading Mr. Cohen's column as a call for war, or against domestic spending? Seems to me it's primarily a plea for sanity. Dear Mr. Trump: "Politics is not about money or power games, or winning for the sake of winning. Politics is about the improvement of people's lives, lessening human suffering, advancing the cause of peace and justice in our country and the world." - the late Senator Paul Wellstone
13
By this definition, Obama's presidency has been a failure.
2
Trump is a disaster.
Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton must win. Preferably Bernie.
However, I agree with Trump that we should not be the world's policeman. We cannot be the only ones.
Obama has done a good job reaching out to old enemies like Cuba and Iran. I wish that the President had a 3rd term instead of the possible disaster that is a Trump Presidency.
Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton must win. Preferably Bernie.
However, I agree with Trump that we should not be the world's policeman. We cannot be the only ones.
Obama has done a good job reaching out to old enemies like Cuba and Iran. I wish that the President had a 3rd term instead of the possible disaster that is a Trump Presidency.
107
The Republicans don't want Trump because he would expose them as well as the Democrats with their lobbyist ties. We need a person to come in and neutralize the behind the scenes bargaining that goes on. We could learn why Obama did nothing about the outsourcing of work/ jobs from the USA, who paid off who? Why Paul Ryan automatically passed the disastrous budget, what lobbyist supported him and others to pass the awful budget. Who had the most to gain from not repealing or at least changing Obama Care, am sure both parties were paid off by some influential group. The time has come to bring a neutral person into the Whitehouse, both sides fear Trumps candor as he will alert the public about the back door deals which enable politicians to be in office so long.
Whether or not you like Trump, his time has come. The media must have a lot to hide as they are doing all they can to destroy Trump.
Republican or Democrat, if you vote for your love of America and with your conscience, we need the truth!!!!!
Whether or not you like Trump, his time has come. The media must have a lot to hide as they are doing all they can to destroy Trump.
Republican or Democrat, if you vote for your love of America and with your conscience, we need the truth!!!!!
1
Obama also did a good job keeping US troops dying in the middle east for no reason. Pretty much Bush 2.0
2
Dan S.--I'm sorry but if you can't see the difference between Obama and Bush then you have no business voting, not even for a dog catcher, let along president.
2
Trump is able to get as far as he does because people like Cohen can't come up with the right reasons for what the U.S. is doing. The U.S. shouldn't defend Europe, or anyone else, out of altruism, especially when Americans at home have lives more difficult than the Europeans they are supposed to be defending.
But that's not why America is over in Europe. America is over in Europe because it decided long ago that it was better to have a war with Russia, or Iran, or just about anyone in that region of the world, on European soil rather than American soil. That desire to give the homeland extra safety comes at a price, indeed a stiff price, and in a democracy voters should be able to have a free discussion whether the cost is worth the benefit.
Pretending that America's Pax is all done for altruism is just shaking a red blanket in front of the voters' eyes, and is leading to the rise of the Trumps Mr. Cohen abhors.
But that's not why America is over in Europe. America is over in Europe because it decided long ago that it was better to have a war with Russia, or Iran, or just about anyone in that region of the world, on European soil rather than American soil. That desire to give the homeland extra safety comes at a price, indeed a stiff price, and in a democracy voters should be able to have a free discussion whether the cost is worth the benefit.
Pretending that America's Pax is all done for altruism is just shaking a red blanket in front of the voters' eyes, and is leading to the rise of the Trumps Mr. Cohen abhors.
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You're absolutely right that Cohen cannot articulate exactly why Trump is wrong and exactly why the so-called Pax Americana (more like the Pax Corporationa) serves average Americans.
Neoliberals and corporate conservatives have failed to intellectually support their system for decades. It just is, but no one likes it.
Neoliberals and corporate conservatives have failed to intellectually support their system for decades. It just is, but no one likes it.
1
The real question we should be asking ourselves is how likely it is and where is it likely that we (meaning the planet in general) are ever to fight a ground war again?
I know people like to see tangible evidence of their military and it makes them feel good to see people wandering around in uniform that they can thank, but let's be honest, we can fight more efficiently and expeditiously with small forces such as the Rangers or Seals, and advanced technology. It's cheaper and fewer people have to give up their lives to do it.
I know people like to see tangible evidence of their military and it makes them feel good to see people wandering around in uniform that they can thank, but let's be honest, we can fight more efficiently and expeditiously with small forces such as the Rangers or Seals, and advanced technology. It's cheaper and fewer people have to give up their lives to do it.
Analogies with Hitler are overwrought. However, there are some points in common. Hitler rose to power by exploiting the humiliation Germans felt after WWI, the promise to make it powerful again and so feared by other nations that it would be able to dominate foreign affairs free of any strings. Trump keeps hammering on how the US is being taken advantage of because Obama is weak and previous administrations have sold the US down the river. It is an us vs them view of the world, a view that has brought nothing but strife and heartache throughout history.
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This is a guy who will hold firm on his new pledge to support Isreal - after he asserted neutrality between it and the PLO ?
1
Hitler's first success with voters still only netted him 33% of the totals, it took another 13 years of inching his way into power for him to become der feuhrer.
1
We shouldn't be the policeman of the world; however, we do not have to become isolationist, either.
What is so difficult about charting a middle course?
What is so difficult about charting a middle course?
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"What is so difficult about charting a middle course?"
Everything, that's why we don't do it.
It requires serious thought, rigor, nuance, pragmatism and two willing parties who are willing to do something for the good of the country instead of what's good for their politics.
Hope that answers it for you.
Everything, that's why we don't do it.
It requires serious thought, rigor, nuance, pragmatism and two willing parties who are willing to do something for the good of the country instead of what's good for their politics.
Hope that answers it for you.
3
The small minded cant see a middle course.
3
The Military Industrial Complex who is dead set against it.
2
Mr. Trump's foreign policy is as bankrupt as some of his real estate adventures.
He has limited understanding of what the US gets in return for its alliances and he has no intention of doing the due diligence necessary to understand this complex world.
He would be GW Bush redux. When he realizes that what happens in the world actually does impact Fortress America, no matter how high the wall, he will react as the gunslinger Bush, with the same dreadful results. What bullies eventually learn is that their strength alone gains short term success at the cost of long term failure.
He has limited understanding of what the US gets in return for its alliances and he has no intention of doing the due diligence necessary to understand this complex world.
He would be GW Bush redux. When he realizes that what happens in the world actually does impact Fortress America, no matter how high the wall, he will react as the gunslinger Bush, with the same dreadful results. What bullies eventually learn is that their strength alone gains short term success at the cost of long term failure.
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I never thought there'd be anyone worse than Bush, but no, Trump would not just be Bush redux he'd be much worse.
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He would make GW Bush look like a genius, we will all be pining for the days that W Bush and the kindly Uncle Cheney was running the USA.
1
It is interesting that many in the world like to take pot shots at the U.S. because we spend such a large percent of our GDP on the military and we then use our military (admittedly often in a very poor way). But, when someone talks about having other countries pay more for their defense and reducing the U.S. presence in their regions, the U.S. also gets knocked. What other countries want is for the U.S. to provide the military, pay for it, and do a very skillful job of using it while pleasing countries with different viewpoints of what the U.S. should do. A very high bar indeed.
12
Very well said Robert.
If we are stupid enough to go to war over Estonia or Chinese islands it will prove Trump right. We've already been snookered into multiple wars over religious folderol in the Middle East. Let them fight their own darned wars. None of our business.
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After all, do we care if someone with a bad haircut takes over the Rhineland, Austria, the Sudetenland, the rest of Czechoslovakia, Poland . . . .
4
I don't get why the Times laughs off all of Trump's ideas. His rhetoric is disgusting, but if you dig below that, he makes some valid points. Take Saudi Arabia. They have the means to provide for their own security, but that money instead goes to fund the lavish lifestyles of the extended ruling family and subsidize life for the Saudi people so that they will not revolt against a totalitarian government. Or take Japan. The third largest economy in the world should not be relying on America to keep it safe. They have the means to provide for their defense. Once again, Trump is a disgusting human being, but some of his ideas are on point. Instead of constant attacks on Trump, maybe the Times should, at the very least, entertain his policy ideas. Almost half of this nation agrees with his views- this newspaper is perpetuating its elitist identity by wholly rejecting everything the man says
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The Times cannot entertain Trump's policy ideas in any serious fashion, or else it would undermine its entire reason for being. Refusing to admit that such ideas exist, or deserve to be discussed, is how consent is manufactured.
1
I'm sorry - "If you dig below that (disgusting rhetoric)"? Please stop right there. This is a man running a campaign for President with fascist rhetoric and tactics. Not something to "dig below". Trump's isolationism is a hallmark of fascism. These are not "policy ideas" - fascism is anti-democratic. It is also defined by a number of features that reinforce and support each other - it's the combination of them that gives fascism its power . And Trump is playing with most of them.
Do not participate in giving America it's first fascist president, just cause he dangles a couple job offers before your bedazzled eyes.
Do not participate in giving America it's first fascist president, just cause he dangles a couple job offers before your bedazzled eyes.
7
Donald Trump is irritable, unpredictable, rash and crude, but he has made
vast inroads with American voters. The votes for Trump are votes
against President Obama and his past seven years. President Obama will leave
the U.S. weaker when he leaves office. It really makes no difference what
Roger Cohen writes, because he lives in London. Last week, Trump gave a
speech to 18,000 people at the AIPAC convention, and was cheered
wildly, so some people think he is electable.
vast inroads with American voters. The votes for Trump are votes
against President Obama and his past seven years. President Obama will leave
the U.S. weaker when he leaves office. It really makes no difference what
Roger Cohen writes, because he lives in London. Last week, Trump gave a
speech to 18,000 people at the AIPAC convention, and was cheered
wildly, so some people think he is electable.
8
Once again a Bush loving war monger has said his piece. Once again let's go over the details: unemployment down to or below 5% from 10% or so, financial markets up to near records again, auto industry on the mend after Romney suggested not bailing them out, Bin Laden dead, AHA passed, Iran nuke deal passed, better relations with Cuba.
One more mention: I don't know exactly how many people have been killed by terrorist attacks here, most of which were perpetrated by our won citizens, perhaps 150 to 200 souls, this contrasts with about 33,000 Americans a year killed by guns. Where's the criticism?
One more mention: I don't know exactly how many people have been killed by terrorist attacks here, most of which were perpetrated by our won citizens, perhaps 150 to 200 souls, this contrasts with about 33,000 Americans a year killed by guns. Where's the criticism?
5
I guess if someone offered you a million dollars but "lived in London" you would refuse it?
Same thing with knowledge I guess.
Not the knowledge but the location of it that counts.
Same thing with knowledge I guess.
Not the knowledge but the location of it that counts.
2
One day after Trump's AIPAC speech, the head of AIPAC said under tears that she was never so ashamed of her crowd by cheering wildly when Il Trumpolini again and again insulted President Obama.
The whole of the Israeli press of the center left came to the conclusion that AIPAC as a whole is actually the greatest danger to Israel proper.
As an American Jew I agree with the latter sentiment.
The whole of the Israeli press of the center left came to the conclusion that AIPAC as a whole is actually the greatest danger to Israel proper.
As an American Jew I agree with the latter sentiment.
5
Trump disses foreign nations with the same glee that he disses his opponents in the Republican primary. He's a one trick pony. Trump's schitck is boorish and offensive behavior.
Why has the American press given Trump so much attention? That's the question.
Why has the American press given Trump so much attention? That's the question.
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"Why has the American press given Trump so much attention?"
Answer: That's entertainment. And entertainment equals larger audience/readership, which equals more expensive advertising, which means more money for the media owners, which means the rich get richer. And that, kids, is American capitalism.
Answer: That's entertainment. And entertainment equals larger audience/readership, which equals more expensive advertising, which means more money for the media owners, which means the rich get richer. And that, kids, is American capitalism.
2
People are just jealous that his one schtick WORKS.
"Why has the American press given Trump so much attention?" One word...ratings!
1
If I truly thought Trump would end American interventionism/Imperialism and the "Pax Americana" I'd probably vote for him - while throwing up in my mouth. Beats the hell out of a neocon like Hillary Clinton in the White House.
32
Pick your poison, Trump & Clinton are both terrible choices that will not provide the desired outcome. We will all have to live w/ those regret...we are still paying for GW's fiasco.
1
Despite his bluster, Trump is actually right in his views of foreign policy. NATO countries have been mooching off the U.S. for decades. For example, Germany refused to contribute even a single mountain battalion to the war in Afghanistan. Most other NATO countries would only lend logistics support to the war. So much for "mutual defense." Europe spends their money on high speed rail, and let's the U.S. serve as an unpaid world policeman. The Military Industrial Complex loves this arrangement, but the U.S. taxpayer has to pay for it. And the American working class is also expected to sacrifice their sons and daughters to these never ending wars.
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Not sure about mountain battalions but according to the German Foreign Ministry website in the US:
"All in all, over the years more than 100,000 German soldiers and civilians have contributed to the efforts aiming at the stabilization and reconstruction of Afghanistan. With currently up to 5,350 troops, Germany is the third largest troop contributor."
http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/06__Foreign__Policy__State/02_...
Wikipedia says as of May 2013, 57 German soldiers and policemen have died in Afghanistan. Another European nation, the UK, has suffered 456 deaths in the country.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-10629358
Less than the US, of course, but it"s not only the American working class making sacrifices.
"All in all, over the years more than 100,000 German soldiers and civilians have contributed to the efforts aiming at the stabilization and reconstruction of Afghanistan. With currently up to 5,350 troops, Germany is the third largest troop contributor."
http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/06__Foreign__Policy__State/02_...
Wikipedia says as of May 2013, 57 German soldiers and policemen have died in Afghanistan. Another European nation, the UK, has suffered 456 deaths in the country.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-10629358
Less than the US, of course, but it"s not only the American working class making sacrifices.
3
I agree. One glaring exception. Some returning US Vets I met in 2006 praised the British army as being very professional, patient, and tough. Apparently they were a major contributor to the war in Afghanistan and according to these veterans were the best trained soldiers, I didn't realize this and its a bit embarrassing if we slight our allies and get too full of ourselves!
1
Europe didn't send troops because they don't want to get involved in USA's perpetual wars. They offered logistic support out of respect.
Most of the countries where USA has military bases would rather not have those bases there, so they would not pay for them.
Once these issues will be brought into the open, the USA military complex might shrink, which is the biggest nightmare of the military complex.
I think Trump knows all this, and he wants all that money to be redirected into rebuilding USA.
Most of the countries where USA has military bases would rather not have those bases there, so they would not pay for them.
Once these issues will be brought into the open, the USA military complex might shrink, which is the biggest nightmare of the military complex.
I think Trump knows all this, and he wants all that money to be redirected into rebuilding USA.
3
The dangerous thing about Trump is that he throws out so many opinions (rants) in no particular sequence or logic that a person cannot decide if he is a dangerous threat or a crazy kook who is just not really smart or educated. Cohen, a learned man, has reason to be alarmed and is joined by many analysts, historians, financial experts and other people of intelligence and experience. It's kind of like Crazy Uncle Joe has been let loose to head the family and everyone knows he is a loon but we are afraid to confront him. The gloves need to come off with this guy and he needs to be laid bare by the columnists in all ways possible. All news media need to join in condemnation of even the possibility of his being our leader.
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"The dangerous thing about Trump is that... a person cannot decide if he is a dangerous threat or a crazy kook who is just not really smart or educated."
Alas, it is not Either/Or; it is Both: He is a stupid, crazy kook who is also a dangerous threat.
Alas, it is not Either/Or; it is Both: He is a stupid, crazy kook who is also a dangerous threat.
4
why hasn't anyone asked him how long it takes to do his hair in the morning?
3
"Axis of evil." "If you're not with us, you're against us." "Iraq has WMD."
The last time we let delusions drive foreign policy, it didn't work out too well.
The last time we let delusions drive foreign policy, it didn't work out too well.
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Yet it was repeated in Libya and Syria.
Vilify a despot enough to to get public opinion to give you justification for an all out war to destroy a third world country for its natural resources.
When done pillaging, the conclusion is that they're better off without that dictator who was giving them free healthcare and higher education.
Only in Syria the stakes got higher with Putin getting fed up with NATO's misadventures. Result is that dictator who gave his people free healthcare and higher education can stay this time. But we're keeping an eye on him in case we need to go back again to run that natural gas pipeline from Qatar to the EU.
Vilify a despot enough to to get public opinion to give you justification for an all out war to destroy a third world country for its natural resources.
When done pillaging, the conclusion is that they're better off without that dictator who was giving them free healthcare and higher education.
Only in Syria the stakes got higher with Putin getting fed up with NATO's misadventures. Result is that dictator who gave his people free healthcare and higher education can stay this time. But we're keeping an eye on him in case we need to go back again to run that natural gas pipeline from Qatar to the EU.
2
Trump must be stopped. I winder why the Republican leaders have been so slow to act and may even endorse him. So selfish, so un-patriotic.
72
Trump likes to be on all sides of an issue, if it's politically in his interest to do so, plus his knowledge of world affairs is rather shallow. Nevertheless, some of his instincts are on the right track. The Europeans should be paying more for NATO. Japan needs to spend more on defense. Saudi Arabia needs to know that if it wants our protection, it needs to be more cognizant of our wants and interests.
If you want the US to continue playing a role in the world, then you need to support a scaling back of US involvement, with concentration on the real critical areas. The great threats to American security are Sunni jihadism and Chinese imperialism. Getting mixed up in Russia's backyard (Kiev is where the Russian state was founded, after all) is bad business. Over-expansion and over-commitment have killed every empire in history. The American empire is no different. Adopt sensible policies now before it's too late.
If you want the US to continue playing a role in the world, then you need to support a scaling back of US involvement, with concentration on the real critical areas. The great threats to American security are Sunni jihadism and Chinese imperialism. Getting mixed up in Russia's backyard (Kiev is where the Russian state was founded, after all) is bad business. Over-expansion and over-commitment have killed every empire in history. The American empire is no different. Adopt sensible policies now before it's too late.
149
Chinese "imperialism" is mostly confined to the South China Sea and other areas near their homeland. It is the U.S. that insists on meddling in locations on the far side of the world.
1
Correction for Jon Harrison: A Russian state was founded in Kiev. That state was eliminated by the Mongols. The current Russian state was founded in Moscow. The history is easy to find, though some of it is complicated to understand.
2
Sunni jihadists don't have a strategic nuclear arsenal and the means to deliver it. Russia could threaten the survival of any NATO country including the US. Sunni jihadists cannot.
Obama began the process of reshuffling the international deck, and electing one of the "acceptable" Republican nominees would simply create the macho-man neocon result, yet another grinding ground war. I believe many who support Trump believe that a heavy handled, wheeler dealer would playout to America's benefit without another neocon-flict.
3
From day one of the 2016 Presidential campaign, the purpose of Trump has been and always will be...to make Hillary Clinton palatable. The entire election is an engineered circus.
8
Glad to see that crack-pottism is not just an American phenomenon!
Another Roger Cohen paean to the beauty, need and desirability of perpetual war.
We don't need no stinkin' lead free water in our schools.
Who needs smooth roads and safe bridges?
Let those commie Chinese build 12,000 miles of high speed rail, we don't need it.
Per Roger Cohen we must garrison the planet in perpetuity.
We don't need no stinkin' lead free water in our schools.
Who needs smooth roads and safe bridges?
Let those commie Chinese build 12,000 miles of high speed rail, we don't need it.
Per Roger Cohen we must garrison the planet in perpetuity.
153
@ Craig Geary - Craig although I agree with you that Roger is often too fixated on our need to be warlike I see that I read this column as first and foremost about the extreme and dangerous ignorance of Trump and about an even more extreme danger if Trump were to be man with the ability to release nuclear missiles. So my comment right below yours focuses on that. Let's see how our Verified friends among others read Roger today.
Larry
Larry
39
There are only these words to write, over and over again.
Vote for the Democratic Party's choice whoever that may be.
If you vote for Donald Trump America will continue its march to become first a second world and then a third world country.
I write of course from a country where sanity reigns but as an American citizen as well as a Swedish citizen I realize that an America with Trump as President would have extremely adverse impacts on Sweden and all of Europe.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.c
Dual citizen USA-SE
Vote for the Democratic Party's choice whoever that may be.
If you vote for Donald Trump America will continue its march to become first a second world and then a third world country.
I write of course from a country where sanity reigns but as an American citizen as well as a Swedish citizen I realize that an America with Trump as President would have extremely adverse impacts on Sweden and all of Europe.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.c
Dual citizen USA-SE
281
Would he have an adverse effect on Europe because he would make Europe actually pay for their security? I think The Donald is a vile man, but the man has a point. Maybe Europe should pay for their defense instead of subsidizing a short workweek, giving free healthcare for all, and funding luxury prisons
5
With The Donald Rising it is clear that sanity does not reign in the US. However, with Sweden's economy in the tank, personal taxes at over 51% of GDP, and a fast-growing Muslim demographic poised to impose Sharia law over much or all of the nation in a generation...I'm not so sure that sanity reigns in Sweden either...or any other European country. The problem for all of us Westerners is that we have no leaders, only politicians, running our countries.
1
@ Dan New York - Dan, the reason I now indicate that I am a dual citizen is that until I did that I could count on repliers writing as you do and adding that a Swedish citizen could not know anything about America anyway.
I can see you do not think much of the basic approach followed by many European countries, one of which is Sweden. I can turn your question partly on its head by noting that if the USA had not deposed Mossadeq in 1953 (democratically eleced leader of Iran), supported Saddam Hussein against Iran and the Kurds, wrecked Iraq with GWs war, and maintained dubious relationships with Pakistand and Saudi Arabia then we would not be facing most of the problems that now preoccupy us.
But to answer your question or try. No individual like me can foresee the unintended consequences of making Donald Trump president because his combination of daily lying, ignorance about the world, and retraction of what he said yesterday makes it impossible to foresee. Given his fundamental nature - you call him vile - I would expect the effects to be mostly negative.
Larry
Thanks for the reply.
I can see you do not think much of the basic approach followed by many European countries, one of which is Sweden. I can turn your question partly on its head by noting that if the USA had not deposed Mossadeq in 1953 (democratically eleced leader of Iran), supported Saddam Hussein against Iran and the Kurds, wrecked Iraq with GWs war, and maintained dubious relationships with Pakistand and Saudi Arabia then we would not be facing most of the problems that now preoccupy us.
But to answer your question or try. No individual like me can foresee the unintended consequences of making Donald Trump president because his combination of daily lying, ignorance about the world, and retraction of what he said yesterday makes it impossible to foresee. Given his fundamental nature - you call him vile - I would expect the effects to be mostly negative.
Larry
Thanks for the reply.
11