Trump's foreign policy = any port in a storm.
9
Serious conservators are outraged that Trump's campaign evidently conspired with Russia to win the election, and that Trump spouted highly classified information directly to senior Russian officials, that he tried to get sanctions removed and compounds returned despite the huge cyberattack on the U.S. election, and that he has been kissing up to Putin and snubbing America's closest allies. Even the National Review had a scathing column the other day about all of this. The Wall Street Journal recommended that Trump get all his Russian meetings, communications, and other ties out in the open in a scathing editorial.
There is no way to whitewash treason. This is not a liberal vs. conservative issue. This is a matter of basic patriotism and also of national security. Encouraging Russia's cyberattack and Trump insane agreement with Putin to do a joint cybersecurity task force after Russia attacked us demonstrate that he doesn't care about the United States, just about pleasing Russia for whatever reason.
No, you cannot do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Lincoln would never be a Republican today: the party has turned itself upside down and inside out. Lincoln once explained why he was not a member of the bigoted Know Nothing Party, and said that he would prefer emigrating to Russia: "where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy." The GOP has embraced Putin's thuggishness and dictatorship by not renouncing Trump.
There is no way to whitewash treason. This is not a liberal vs. conservative issue. This is a matter of basic patriotism and also of national security. Encouraging Russia's cyberattack and Trump insane agreement with Putin to do a joint cybersecurity task force after Russia attacked us demonstrate that he doesn't care about the United States, just about pleasing Russia for whatever reason.
No, you cannot do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Lincoln would never be a Republican today: the party has turned itself upside down and inside out. Lincoln once explained why he was not a member of the bigoted Know Nothing Party, and said that he would prefer emigrating to Russia: "where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy." The GOP has embraced Putin's thuggishness and dictatorship by not renouncing Trump.
49
"It’s not that the administration has done everything wrong, at least by conservative lights: It’s always possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason." What does this mean, you are normalizing this psychotic man?
23
Trump is handing over Syria to Putin, possibly at the expense of Iran's entrenchment there. It's an interesting gamble that could help avoid an apocalyptic all-out war between Shiites and Sunnis. The problem is that nobody knows what Putin really wants to achieve in the Middle-East - and such a war would do wonders to raise oil prices and replenish Russia's coffers.
12
Naw, hate is not the right word to me for an obvious con-man who played 63 million voters. Disgust, maybe, or the bleakness that staring into the abyss evokes. But this new guy, Scarramuchi, now here's a piece of work I could hate.
27
Hatred for anyone, let alone somebody one has never met? It happens all the time, but that does not make it right to join the Club. Why is America tolerating this president and are we truly this dispersed and helpless? It would be pleasant to go about one's business and pretend that our Government is working on automatic pilot.
The World appears to be on fire. Too dramatic to stomach? It has been stated that other Countries, as a rule, follow in the footsteps of America, and we are setting a poor example. Discipline, discipline to wean myself off the News and start learning to write it right. Mr. Stephens, do you really think we are going to be able to continue with this State of Affairs much longer, and before you brush me aside and tell me that I have nothing to add, look at what's happening in Venezuela. 'Freedom fries', and it has nothing to do with US?
I once chucked a book, an exchange of correspondence between Alexis de Tocqueville and his cousin. It was returned mysteriously at my front door the following morning.
Look, we are in no position to discuss Foreign Policy. You must fancy yourself a wit. On the other hand, 'Show me the money!' sounds awfully good, along with other slogans such as Love your Neighbors. Platitudes are morals without fables, and last evening I bent my Canadian friend's ears. It will be all right, she said soothingly. She used to make scatological jokes about Trump, can you imagine?
Trump has to Go. Point Final.
The World appears to be on fire. Too dramatic to stomach? It has been stated that other Countries, as a rule, follow in the footsteps of America, and we are setting a poor example. Discipline, discipline to wean myself off the News and start learning to write it right. Mr. Stephens, do you really think we are going to be able to continue with this State of Affairs much longer, and before you brush me aside and tell me that I have nothing to add, look at what's happening in Venezuela. 'Freedom fries', and it has nothing to do with US?
I once chucked a book, an exchange of correspondence between Alexis de Tocqueville and his cousin. It was returned mysteriously at my front door the following morning.
Look, we are in no position to discuss Foreign Policy. You must fancy yourself a wit. On the other hand, 'Show me the money!' sounds awfully good, along with other slogans such as Love your Neighbors. Platitudes are morals without fables, and last evening I bent my Canadian friend's ears. It will be all right, she said soothingly. She used to make scatological jokes about Trump, can you imagine?
Trump has to Go. Point Final.
11
Would love to hear your vision of "conservative" policies, foreign and otherwise. When you start with unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy that explode the deficit, we will know who you are.
17
In order to be able to assign a grade, one must have some criteria upon which to base the grade. Contrasting the barrage of attacks by conservatives against HRC over issues that were non existent, not her responsibility, or comparatively minor with the near total silence of conservatives regarding Trump's actions, which can only be described as corrupt, self serving, insane, unpatriotic, destructive and incompetent, I can state that the only criterion conservatives are using in their judgment is tribalism. According to that criterion, Trump gets an A. The grade any other person not part of the insular divorced from objective reality conservative tribe would assign would be an F, as in the country is... I'll leave the reader to complete the previous sentence.
19
I 1st read this column at 4:00 AM, and I guess after a long day, and maybe one too many glasses of wine, I thought "this guy is kidding," with these ridiculous grades for our current potus(No CAPS deserved).
Now in the light of day, well, actually the dark of my AC curtain drawn den, I get the point. Hooray for aging, we can keep some of our faculties, of course under the GOP healthcare plan, my need for a 'new" facility may be a different story, but I digress.
I don't think I have read a better article capturing the essence of DT and the irrational rationale for his true believer following. Never mind his promises, and the inconsistencies run amok during his "implementation" or lack thereof, of said policies, his supporters are going to support him regardless of the fact that, other than his childlike admiration for his Russian Hero, he has mostly kept Obama's foreign policy plans in place.
However, Trump did not break with "the anti-isolationist consensus" among Western leaders, whom I infer, you are referring to, he went further back and adopted Woodrow Wilson's "Open Door" philosophy for America's foreign trade policy, in which the "door" on trade only opened one way, and that was in the best interests of American business.
Wilson's policies, including foreign trade, didn't work out so well then, and set the groundwork for the post WW I 20th century carnage that followed does not bode well for the rest of the 21st Century.
Now in the light of day, well, actually the dark of my AC curtain drawn den, I get the point. Hooray for aging, we can keep some of our faculties, of course under the GOP healthcare plan, my need for a 'new" facility may be a different story, but I digress.
I don't think I have read a better article capturing the essence of DT and the irrational rationale for his true believer following. Never mind his promises, and the inconsistencies run amok during his "implementation" or lack thereof, of said policies, his supporters are going to support him regardless of the fact that, other than his childlike admiration for his Russian Hero, he has mostly kept Obama's foreign policy plans in place.
However, Trump did not break with "the anti-isolationist consensus" among Western leaders, whom I infer, you are referring to, he went further back and adopted Woodrow Wilson's "Open Door" philosophy for America's foreign trade policy, in which the "door" on trade only opened one way, and that was in the best interests of American business.
Wilson's policies, including foreign trade, didn't work out so well then, and set the groundwork for the post WW I 20th century carnage that followed does not bode well for the rest of the 21st Century.
5
When ignorance is coupled with arrogance and narcissism we have Trump's dangerous foreign policy. Even if we avoid a major war we are becoming an international outcast. And then there are the ethical and legal lapses Trump demonstrates by his tantrums when his business tactics and subservience to Russia are made public.
The United States is in Decline, and the Fall nears.
The United States is in Decline, and the Fall nears.
16
Thank goodness you dismissed the liberal critique, or you might have had to present an argument honestly and then engage in some intellectual work. For me, I regard Trump's Syrian deference to Russia as a retreat and the results of his adventurism as alienating and chaotic. The tree should be known by its fruit.
What good do you expect from such policy chaos and administrating infighting?
What good do you expect from such policy chaos and administrating infighting?
11
"It’s been only six months, and Trump still has a lot to learn."
You are assuming he has the capability to learn. Read the transcript of his recent interview with the New York Times (link below). The man is stupid, but he thinks he's brilliant. When he talks about the event where he had his second conversation with Putin, he refers to the dinner and the opera. He didn't hear an opera. He heard a concert with Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Just because there was an orchestra, chorus, soloists, doesn't mean it was an opera. How can someone with absolutely no cultural awareness, knowledge, or curiosity formulate a respectable foreign policy? People who are convinced they know everything never learn.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/trump-interview-transcrip...
You are assuming he has the capability to learn. Read the transcript of his recent interview with the New York Times (link below). The man is stupid, but he thinks he's brilliant. When he talks about the event where he had his second conversation with Putin, he refers to the dinner and the opera. He didn't hear an opera. He heard a concert with Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Just because there was an orchestra, chorus, soloists, doesn't mean it was an opera. How can someone with absolutely no cultural awareness, knowledge, or curiosity formulate a respectable foreign policy? People who are convinced they know everything never learn.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/trump-interview-transcrip...
25
Only a non-sentient being could approve of anything tdump has done.
13
I am sick and tired of what conservatives want or think. The entire party and way of thinking is self centered, evil and anti-American.
I am also sick of their flag waving, American flag lapel pin wearing, "I support the troops" hypocritical, I'm a more patriotic bull. Anyone that supports this administration in any way is not a American in heart.
I am also sick of their flag waving, American flag lapel pin wearing, "I support the troops" hypocritical, I'm a more patriotic bull. Anyone that supports this administration in any way is not a American in heart.
18
I would give him an F as well. Muslims are still pouring in this country and he lied saying he would stop that.
1
The United States was founded on a basic core value of tolerance for different religions. Many of the Founding Fathers were deists, and were not Christian. Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, atheism, and whatever are all legal and fine in America. A Muslim ban is unconstitutional, and the countries that are listed for such a ban never had terrorist attacks on the US (unlike Saudi Arabia from which most of the 9/11 terrorists came as well as Osama bin Laden and which encourages Wahhabism) yet Trump favored them with an enormous arms deal, including advanced U.S. weapons technology being transferred to a new factory in Saudi Arabia.
Right wing people should be very careful with discriminating against those of other religions: this gets extremely close to the anti-Semitism of Hitler and the Nazis. It is not American.
Right wing people should be very careful with discriminating against those of other religions: this gets extremely close to the anti-Semitism of Hitler and the Nazis. It is not American.
15
Bashar Al Assad and his protector Putin were clearly more afraid of Obama and Clinton than they are of Trump, and for a very good reason: Trump wants to be buddies with Putin, and couldn't care less about Syria and Assad.
The same goes for Saudi Arabia: even though the King finances ISIS, Trump wants to give him more than $100 billion in US weapons, so why wouldn't they love him, rather than fear him, as they did with Obama?
Of course, Fox News constantly claimed that all the tough leaders out there were laughing at Obama whereas they now "respect" Trump. And as always, there's absolutely nothing that could possibly back up that claim. But as Trump supporters never learned how to fact-check and absolutely need to feel like "winners", they prefer to go with the program and simply believe the narrative that now the world fears Trump, and that that's a good thing for the US.
Conclusion: when you try to give Trump a report card on no matter what, most Trump supporters will blindly give him an A, because that's what they're told on a daily basis by the tweeter in chief and his propaganda machines, Fox News and Breitbart (with Breitbart constantly attacking the few FN reporters who sometimes tend to criticize Trump for one or the other decision or tweet), just like they will blindly continue the typical lies about Obama and Hillary.
And if you look at the polls, for the moment even most NeverTrumpers out there prefer to believe the exact same things...
The same goes for Saudi Arabia: even though the King finances ISIS, Trump wants to give him more than $100 billion in US weapons, so why wouldn't they love him, rather than fear him, as they did with Obama?
Of course, Fox News constantly claimed that all the tough leaders out there were laughing at Obama whereas they now "respect" Trump. And as always, there's absolutely nothing that could possibly back up that claim. But as Trump supporters never learned how to fact-check and absolutely need to feel like "winners", they prefer to go with the program and simply believe the narrative that now the world fears Trump, and that that's a good thing for the US.
Conclusion: when you try to give Trump a report card on no matter what, most Trump supporters will blindly give him an A, because that's what they're told on a daily basis by the tweeter in chief and his propaganda machines, Fox News and Breitbart (with Breitbart constantly attacking the few FN reporters who sometimes tend to criticize Trump for one or the other decision or tweet), just like they will blindly continue the typical lies about Obama and Hillary.
And if you look at the polls, for the moment even most NeverTrumpers out there prefer to believe the exact same things...
15
When when your psychology is broken enough you cannot be said to have
A philosophy of any policy. Trump can be thought of as a rabid animal.
He doesn't care who he bites or when or why.Clearly he's unpredictable
That he has the nuclear codes and the Republican Party is still doing nothing says a great deal about them and their faulty judgement .
Unless Muller can speed things up we're in terrible trouble.
Just as an aside,no one gives a deranged human a grade .Its irrelevant.
Stay out of his way,and scuttle every insane act he pulls,until we're rid of him
Or one of his dear friends turns on him.
A philosophy of any policy. Trump can be thought of as a rabid animal.
He doesn't care who he bites or when or why.Clearly he's unpredictable
That he has the nuclear codes and the Republican Party is still doing nothing says a great deal about them and their faulty judgement .
Unless Muller can speed things up we're in terrible trouble.
Just as an aside,no one gives a deranged human a grade .Its irrelevant.
Stay out of his way,and scuttle every insane act he pulls,until we're rid of him
Or one of his dear friends turns on him.
11
Interesting Bret. What I found most interesting was how you managed to omit the influence of steve bannon and his fellow alt-right minions within this "so called" administration. The trumpster's incurious 'intellect' alone renders him unfit for this job....which requires knowledge, judgment, integrity, and a first hand acquaintance with facts! In my mind, your man has not a single one of these attributes.
13
First of all, a true conservative would turn his/her back on t rump, McConnell, and Ryan as caricatures of real conservative ideals. In fact, a true conservative would turn his/her back on the entire republican charade.
t rump ran on the premise that only he could fix these great problems (that, coincidentally, only he could see); that is the mark of someone running for dictator. And that is exactly how he has acted since assuming the role.
McConnell to his everlasting shame put the Constitution into a shredder when he did NOT allow a vote for Obama's Supreme Court nominee.
Ryan is just an empty smile with no soul.
The only grade a real conservative would give this circus is the back of his/her hand.
t rump ran on the premise that only he could fix these great problems (that, coincidentally, only he could see); that is the mark of someone running for dictator. And that is exactly how he has acted since assuming the role.
McConnell to his everlasting shame put the Constitution into a shredder when he did NOT allow a vote for Obama's Supreme Court nominee.
Ryan is just an empty smile with no soul.
The only grade a real conservative would give this circus is the back of his/her hand.
16
OMG is right. But I can't agree with the Trumpkin base premise: Trump's United States has not gone from being loved to being feared; we have gone from respect to ridicule. Those who used to be our allies now must make their own way against or around Putin and China, without the United States at their back.
Trust is a terrible thing to lose. I hope and pray that Trump's Putin-fueled destruction of the Pax Americana does not lead to World At War.
Trust is a terrible thing to lose. I hope and pray that Trump's Putin-fueled destruction of the Pax Americana does not lead to World At War.
12
Mr. Stephens is not a conservative. He is a neoconservative, whose roots are traceable to Trotsky, and the Chicago expatriate philosopher Leo Strauss. This is the philosophy of the "noble lie", told by a chosen noble few, who know best and know they are chosen.
The neoconservatives defected to Hillary Clinton before the election, expecting to be appointed to positions where they could exercise their partisan bad judgment as in previous administrations.
Anything they say or write, is totally aimed at securing the military and economic resources ot the former United States for themselves, because they really believe they are the Guardians.
Guardians with proved extraordinary bad judgment. Please identify yourself as a neoconservative, and skip this cant about speaking for conservatives.
The neoconservatives defected to Hillary Clinton before the election, expecting to be appointed to positions where they could exercise their partisan bad judgment as in previous administrations.
Anything they say or write, is totally aimed at securing the military and economic resources ot the former United States for themselves, because they really believe they are the Guardians.
Guardians with proved extraordinary bad judgment. Please identify yourself as a neoconservative, and skip this cant about speaking for conservatives.
7
"Trump could have avoided all of this. He didn’t, either because his personality is defective or because he thinks humiliation is an appropriate tool of presidential power." It's the first. I'm a mental health professional with 19 years in the field and have had unfortunate occasions to have clients like him. They don't change, they can't change without specialized therapy to fix their broken brains (no, meds won't help, it's not that kind of problem). However, the second answer you gave ties in with the first - if he perceives he is being disrespected (even if he's not), then it's scorched earth, game on, throw you under the bus time. Just ask Spicey and Sessions and Comey and so on.
66
Assad fears us? Why is that? Perhaps you don't read the news, Bret, but he stopped all aid to anti-Assad forces. I'm afraid this column gets and F.
11
I don't profess to have a single conservative bone in my body (let alone thought), but I will try to put meself in the mind of one.
There are 3 types of republican in these wild times;
~ the fiscal with only an eye on the bottom line and tax cuts
~ the social extremist where beige is black in comparison to white
~ the neophyte\excuse maker for any and all things from this President
If I am the fiscal type, then I am torn between discouraged and hopeful. I am still paying those taxes ( putting all accountants and lawyers aside ). I am still subsidizing health care so those other folks can get it. I am hopeful my fellow brethren get it together before the midterms to enact said tax cut. Protectionism is not my thing ( nor the bluster ) but if I happen to be associated with coal mining or any other business that might benefit ( even at the expense of any other ) then I am jubilant.
If I am looking for purer than pure, then I am happy as well. The other guy ( gal ) is not in power and I am, Behind the scenes and in the courts ( ecstatic I got to steal that SCOTUS seat ) I am working to subjugate women and minorities and seem to be doing a fine job. Three more years of this, and we can celebrate the country being back to 1950. (just the way I want it)
If I am in the last camp, I have no thoughts whatsoever. I clap for anything and everything that is dictated or uttered in under 140 characters. I can't see past next week. All those that stand in my way,, beware.
Grade B+
There are 3 types of republican in these wild times;
~ the fiscal with only an eye on the bottom line and tax cuts
~ the social extremist where beige is black in comparison to white
~ the neophyte\excuse maker for any and all things from this President
If I am the fiscal type, then I am torn between discouraged and hopeful. I am still paying those taxes ( putting all accountants and lawyers aside ). I am still subsidizing health care so those other folks can get it. I am hopeful my fellow brethren get it together before the midterms to enact said tax cut. Protectionism is not my thing ( nor the bluster ) but if I happen to be associated with coal mining or any other business that might benefit ( even at the expense of any other ) then I am jubilant.
If I am looking for purer than pure, then I am happy as well. The other guy ( gal ) is not in power and I am, Behind the scenes and in the courts ( ecstatic I got to steal that SCOTUS seat ) I am working to subjugate women and minorities and seem to be doing a fine job. Three more years of this, and we can celebrate the country being back to 1950. (just the way I want it)
If I am in the last camp, I have no thoughts whatsoever. I clap for anything and everything that is dictated or uttered in under 140 characters. I can't see past next week. All those that stand in my way,, beware.
Grade B+
13
Brett - you are channeling your colleague David Brooks - and you are far more intellectual for that.
Your #2 - that Clinton would rely upon similar policies to Obama i.e. American retreat as you call it , is clearly false . She's a hawk, a very strong hawk which was one of the things progressive liberals opposed her for.
and then you write:
"....of appeasing adversaries, alienating allies, and turning us into a country whose enemies didn’t fear us and whose friends didn’t trust us." referring to Obama, my goodness - this is a perfect description of trump, if ever there was one.
germany, England , Canada and france dont trust any more, south korea worries about our commitment, japan worries too and the list goes on.
Enemies like Russia and China and n Korea dont fear us - even less so then under Obama.
Indeed Russia is winning, undermining the American faith in democracy through Putin's lover, trump.
The man is incompetent - no foreign policy philosophy save for what strokes his ego
Thats our foreign policy today , aided and abetted by a republican party that has a dystopian agenda for the citizens of OUR country - i.e. privatize EVERYTHING! healthcare, schools, education, roads, government, the armed forces etc
This party hid behind their so called patriotism for years exclaiming they had a 'strong' foreign policy - and yet they stand behind this petulant man child as the leader of our nation.
I'll take Obama's policies over these any day.
Your #2 - that Clinton would rely upon similar policies to Obama i.e. American retreat as you call it , is clearly false . She's a hawk, a very strong hawk which was one of the things progressive liberals opposed her for.
and then you write:
"....of appeasing adversaries, alienating allies, and turning us into a country whose enemies didn’t fear us and whose friends didn’t trust us." referring to Obama, my goodness - this is a perfect description of trump, if ever there was one.
germany, England , Canada and france dont trust any more, south korea worries about our commitment, japan worries too and the list goes on.
Enemies like Russia and China and n Korea dont fear us - even less so then under Obama.
Indeed Russia is winning, undermining the American faith in democracy through Putin's lover, trump.
The man is incompetent - no foreign policy philosophy save for what strokes his ego
Thats our foreign policy today , aided and abetted by a republican party that has a dystopian agenda for the citizens of OUR country - i.e. privatize EVERYTHING! healthcare, schools, education, roads, government, the armed forces etc
This party hid behind their so called patriotism for years exclaiming they had a 'strong' foreign policy - and yet they stand behind this petulant man child as the leader of our nation.
I'll take Obama's policies over these any day.
12
As the catastrophe that is "the Trump Administration" careens on, Republicans are going to have to come to the realization that the jig is up. I firmly believe that Trump ran for President as a means make money, thanks to the crazy ridiculous campaign laws, and to stick his thumb in Obama's one last time. Even He didn't think he'd win. But the Russians came with information, and more importantly, untraceable cash (first self-financed campaign paid for in Rubles). As such, he has no policies, there is no plan, other than the continued enrichment of his family and increased fame to feed his malignant narcissism even if it harms the country.
He has sowed such consternation in Europe that we are no longer seen as the leader of NATO. We have abandoned any hope of "moderate" forces having any say in post-war Syria by walking away from (another) commitment in the Mid-East and throwing our hand in with Assad and Russian - and by extension Iran. Mexico may be negotiating a deal to buy all future corn from Argentina in a defacto sanction- can Canada be far behind. Further attempts to "contextualize" this as somehow Republican or Conservative only serves to illustrate how hollow and meaningless those terms are. You will be seen as complicit.
He has sowed such consternation in Europe that we are no longer seen as the leader of NATO. We have abandoned any hope of "moderate" forces having any say in post-war Syria by walking away from (another) commitment in the Mid-East and throwing our hand in with Assad and Russian - and by extension Iran. Mexico may be negotiating a deal to buy all future corn from Argentina in a defacto sanction- can Canada be far behind. Further attempts to "contextualize" this as somehow Republican or Conservative only serves to illustrate how hollow and meaningless those terms are. You will be seen as complicit.
10
I don't think the Syrian regime fears us. Trump is tight with Putin and the last thing Putin wants to see or permit is Assad's downfall. The beautiful ceasefires give Assad time to consolidate his position, regroup his forces, and concentrate on destroying local opposition.
6
This administration is a toxic dumpster fire.
Conservatives haven't been "the last best hope of earth" since the days of Lincoln, TR and Eisenhower, leaders with conscience.
As for movie lines, let's amend it to "show me the tax returns!"
Conservatives haven't been "the last best hope of earth" since the days of Lincoln, TR and Eisenhower, leaders with conscience.
As for movie lines, let's amend it to "show me the tax returns!"
14
My education in foreign policy began in 1966 when I joined the Navy to see the world. Now retired from Army and civilian careers I have the time to fully indulge a keen interest in how US foreign policy affects regular people at home and abroad.
This format requires brevity, to that end US foreign policy, since the 1960s, has been weighted in support of Wall Street interests that pursue the free flow of capital and the exploitation of natural and human resources around the world. For the most part American values are used as political sound bites to justify Wall Street driven foreign policies. As a practical matter US foreign policy is a reflection of domestic policies that advance the interests of Wall Street at the expense of most Americans.
That said, it matters who occupies the White House because Congress is owned by Wall Street. Therefore, if the US is to lead the world to peace and prosperity it needs a president who believes in the power of American values, a president who will put country before self, country before politics and possesses the personal qualities to be a world leader.
Before Trump became president I believed the US could overcome the Wall Street driven foreign policies of Reagan, Clinton, W. Bush and to a lessor degree Obama. However, given the state our political system and Trump's first six months in office I no longer believe that the US can reclaim the mantel of world leadership it held after WWII, at least not in my lifetime.
This format requires brevity, to that end US foreign policy, since the 1960s, has been weighted in support of Wall Street interests that pursue the free flow of capital and the exploitation of natural and human resources around the world. For the most part American values are used as political sound bites to justify Wall Street driven foreign policies. As a practical matter US foreign policy is a reflection of domestic policies that advance the interests of Wall Street at the expense of most Americans.
That said, it matters who occupies the White House because Congress is owned by Wall Street. Therefore, if the US is to lead the world to peace and prosperity it needs a president who believes in the power of American values, a president who will put country before self, country before politics and possesses the personal qualities to be a world leader.
Before Trump became president I believed the US could overcome the Wall Street driven foreign policies of Reagan, Clinton, W. Bush and to a lessor degree Obama. However, given the state our political system and Trump's first six months in office I no longer believe that the US can reclaim the mantel of world leadership it held after WWII, at least not in my lifetime.
14
Forget grades - most universities would expel students like DJT. To get an inflated A grade, DJT would have to enroll in his own "university", and be graded by folks who are comfortable in an alternate reality without universities or grades. The F- grade goes to the Republicans in congress; don't rejoice: the Democrats on the back-benches get a generous C. Irrespective of the grades, the sad part is that we fail as a country.
13
For those who think that Obama was weak, yes he was but so are all other nations and allies. Tell me which of our allies would like to put a bomb on Damascus? The idea that we can solve all our foreign policy issues with bombs and guns is just pure fantasy. Just look at our classic latest examples in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tough W really showed them who we were! Now tough T will show them who we really are? The man who thinks that Hamilton was present during the Civil War? Has no clue of history and constantly makes his own history lesson by denying that he supported the Iraq war when he truly did? The grade I give him is J for joke or jerk, take your pick.
12
Everything Trump does is a distraction. While he is doing his various "crazy" acts, little attention is being paid to what he and what others around him are actually doing - like letting coal companies put their poison into rivers and streams, like letting mentally ill people buy guns, like Sessions at DOJ cranking back up the long lost "war on drugs", going back to private, for profit prisons, and going back to "civil forfeiture" - ie, letting "law enforcement" steal people's property with no showing of any crime to fund themselves.... etc etc etc. A lot of really bad stuff is happening -- and apparently that is all OK with "conservatives."
8
There is no Trump foreign policy. That would require a level of intelligence he neither possess nor wants to. He is full of soundbites, sometimes contradictory, because that's all his brain can come up with. It's his advisors who have to clean up his messes. The McMasters, Kellys and whatnot are the ones who have his ear and they appeal to the base, so Trump thinks most of his foreign policy problems are solved.
But none of that really matters. We are continuing the same failed policies in the Middle East that have dogged us since World War II. We are dealing with Putin as "Soviet Union Light" and the Chinese as the economic Tar Baby they have become. We are at a disadvantage precisely because of the idea that we are players constantly trying to gain advantage. That plays to politics but not to economics.
This isn't anything Hillary could have fixed because the United States is not held in high regard the way we were in the aftermath of World War II. We have yet to figure out that being involved in everyone else's business usually comes back to bite us. Only then can we forge a foreign policy not based on constant struggle but cooperation through trade.
But none of that really matters. We are continuing the same failed policies in the Middle East that have dogged us since World War II. We are dealing with Putin as "Soviet Union Light" and the Chinese as the economic Tar Baby they have become. We are at a disadvantage precisely because of the idea that we are players constantly trying to gain advantage. That plays to politics but not to economics.
This isn't anything Hillary could have fixed because the United States is not held in high regard the way we were in the aftermath of World War II. We have yet to figure out that being involved in everyone else's business usually comes back to bite us. Only then can we forge a foreign policy not based on constant struggle but cooperation through trade.
5
The Trump administration has no foreign policy that has been presented and or articulated by anyone, other than behavior that is inexplicable on the world stage. He threw Syrian rebels fighting Assad under the bus, probably at the behest of his buddy Putin, says nothing of the Russians in the Ukraine and claims that North Korea will never develop a nuke that can reach the US as they accelerate their ICMB program. He was critical of the Iran deal and ran on "ripping it up" but just re-certified Iran to be in compliance with the agreement. He provided Israeli intelligence to the Russians right in the White House and thinks Jared will bring peace to the middle east. Exactly what foreign policy does the country have with a guy like Trump in charge who is still obsessing with the crowd size at his inauguration? Trump and the "yes" men he's surrounded himself with are more concerned with "image" than with policy.
The entire presidency is a disgrace. Foreign policy is just one of the failures of the unfit mental patient in the White House.
The entire presidency is a disgrace. Foreign policy is just one of the failures of the unfit mental patient in the White House.
8
Leave the arena to the gladiators. Someone needs to be the adult in the room of teenage boys stoked on too many hormones. We used to be that adult.
2
Protest and resist every day in every way.
3
Trump, McMaster and Cohn are all on the same page. It is about the almighty dollar and not a global community representing humanity and humanitarian endeavors. Trump is all about personal greed and power, and extending his holdings globally. This is his perception of foreign policy, what can that country do for me?
It is dangerous and frightening to have an American president who trashes democracies at home and around the world. One who refuses to work with its allies.
Since he has a false self-image he mistakenly believes Putin is his friend and for two major reasons; because Russian oligarchs and mobsters have poured hundreds of millions of Russian dollars into his real estate holdings over the past two decades or more, and because Putin sealed the election for him.
Wake up Trump. Putin has an agenda, and it is not the same as yours. Putin is no neophyte when it comes to foreign policy in our global community. On the other hand Trump is a neophyte who does not want to learn, because he doesn't like to be told anything. He knows it all.
This is probably why our State Department has such a huge amount of unfilled vacancies, and despite its figurehead Tillerson, there is really no one at the 'tiller' steering its destiny. It cannot do its job because Trump will not let it and has pretty much put it out of existence in this administration.
It is dangerous and frightening to have an American president who trashes democracies at home and around the world. One who refuses to work with its allies.
Since he has a false self-image he mistakenly believes Putin is his friend and for two major reasons; because Russian oligarchs and mobsters have poured hundreds of millions of Russian dollars into his real estate holdings over the past two decades or more, and because Putin sealed the election for him.
Wake up Trump. Putin has an agenda, and it is not the same as yours. Putin is no neophyte when it comes to foreign policy in our global community. On the other hand Trump is a neophyte who does not want to learn, because he doesn't like to be told anything. He knows it all.
This is probably why our State Department has such a huge amount of unfilled vacancies, and despite its figurehead Tillerson, there is really no one at the 'tiller' steering its destiny. It cannot do its job because Trump will not let it and has pretty much put it out of existence in this administration.
5
The State Department was vacated by design early in the Trump days. Tillerson is enabling that. Get rid of wisdom and use more force. So stupid!
2
What on earth makes you think that all of those "unfilled" positions in the State Department...or all of the other departments and agencies...are necessary for their operation?
The days of the Acting Deputy Assistant Assistant Secretary are over. They were mostly make-work positions for political posturing or positions to be filled by generous and "worthy" political hacks who weren't important enough to warrant being named to an ambassadorial position.
The days of the Acting Deputy Assistant Assistant Secretary are over. They were mostly make-work positions for political posturing or positions to be filled by generous and "worthy" political hacks who weren't important enough to warrant being named to an ambassadorial position.
1
Be careful not to equate "experience" with "wisdom".
In many bureaucracies, the choices made based on "experience" merely fosters the continuation of half-baked policies of the past that cannot, and will not, meet the needs of the future, or even the present.
In many bureaucracies, the choices made based on "experience" merely fosters the continuation of half-baked policies of the past that cannot, and will not, meet the needs of the future, or even the present.
"In Hamburg this month, Trump again showed how eager he was to oblige his man-crush in the Kremlin, this time at the expense of Israel."
What? Must Stephens bring Israel into everything? What did he do in Hamburg that was at the expense of Israel? Better editing, Bret!
What? Must Stephens bring Israel into everything? What did he do in Hamburg that was at the expense of Israel? Better editing, Bret!
4
To say Trump has a foreign policy at all is an understatement. He has transient impulses, moods, and impressions. His "policies", such as they are, veer from day to day, minute to minute. One second Trump attacks Germany; the next he is friendly. On Monday Trump dislikes French President Macron; on Tuesday they are buddies.
One constant remains: Trump's slavish devotion to Russian President Putin. Every day and in every way Trump finds ways to show he is entirely in Putin's thrall, and will do all he can do accommodate Russia and his "friend". This bizarre affinity isn't so strange if one realizes Putin helped elect Trump and Russian money keeps his businesses afloat. This harmful relationship will continue to undermine American foreign relations as long as Trump is in office.
One constant remains: Trump's slavish devotion to Russian President Putin. Every day and in every way Trump finds ways to show he is entirely in Putin's thrall, and will do all he can do accommodate Russia and his "friend". This bizarre affinity isn't so strange if one realizes Putin helped elect Trump and Russian money keeps his businesses afloat. This harmful relationship will continue to undermine American foreign relations as long as Trump is in office.
6
As a liberal, I like his Syria policy of letting Russia and Assad government clean up Syria of all terrorists and restore its borders to what it was in 2010. Syria is not our problem.
"The administration certified this month that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal; according to the Institute for Science and International Security, it isn’t fully."
Iran is in compliance with JCPOA, we are not, A think tank with a foreign government's interests in mind doesn't get to decide, IAEA does.
"The administration certified this month that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal; according to the Institute for Science and International Security, it isn’t fully."
Iran is in compliance with JCPOA, we are not, A think tank with a foreign government's interests in mind doesn't get to decide, IAEA does.
7
The closing Trump advertisement in the election railed against a supposed cabal of international elite financial figures who were claimed to be causing America's decline. It pictured financier George Soros, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein as the prime villains. Trump's inaugural address also reiterated the populist theme that the day of revenge against financial elites has arrived. Presumably, those in the Trump campaign who prepared the anti-Janet Yellen advertisements and more importantly, those at who the advertising was targeted and voted based on those advertisements, would be disappointed to see Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reappointed by President Trump.
Logically, a low interest rate policy would improve the already long odds against Trump's budget assumptions of 3% real growth. Low interest rates would also help the trade deficit. However, President Trump may not be able to resist the temptation to reward some of his early supporters by appointing monetary "hawks" to the Federal Reserve Board who would raise interest rates precipitously. Since most mainstream Republican economists were originally in the "Never Trump" camp during the primaries, some monetary crackpots were able to have their populist views heard in the Trump campaign and administration.
One could envision a possible doomsday scenario for the financial markets and then likely the economy arising from very u..."
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4082278
Logically, a low interest rate policy would improve the already long odds against Trump's budget assumptions of 3% real growth. Low interest rates would also help the trade deficit. However, President Trump may not be able to resist the temptation to reward some of his early supporters by appointing monetary "hawks" to the Federal Reserve Board who would raise interest rates precipitously. Since most mainstream Republican economists were originally in the "Never Trump" camp during the primaries, some monetary crackpots were able to have their populist views heard in the Trump campaign and administration.
One could envision a possible doomsday scenario for the financial markets and then likely the economy arising from very u..."
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4082278
I am sometimes baffled by Stephens edotorials but this one takes the cake. He continually paints liberals and conservatives in their respective corners, and true to conservatives cannot value on any other perspective.
The Trump foreign policy is a disaster but since it is not Clintons or Obamas by definition it is an improvement. Stephens like so many conservatives believes his own propaganda.
Siding with the Saudis against Iran, his embrace of Putin, the profound misunderstanding of the delucate middle east alliances, the failure to understand the TPP are just a few of the failures with long term consequences. Foreign policy is not for amateurs.
I am sick of the left right divide. But until conservatives like Stephens cannot criticize their own honestly I see little hope for national unity.
The Trump foreign policy is a disaster but since it is not Clintons or Obamas by definition it is an improvement. Stephens like so many conservatives believes his own propaganda.
Siding with the Saudis against Iran, his embrace of Putin, the profound misunderstanding of the delucate middle east alliances, the failure to understand the TPP are just a few of the failures with long term consequences. Foreign policy is not for amateurs.
I am sick of the left right divide. But until conservatives like Stephens cannot criticize their own honestly I see little hope for national unity.
3
On the plus side, so far he hasn't started a war. On the other hand his Muslim ban does nothing to make America more safe and has alienated a large religious group. He has needlessly slammed the door of reconciliation in the face of Iran and also Cuba. He is so badly regarded in Mexico that people in their legislature have considered a ban on U.S. exported corn. He has conceded that China is not a currency manipulator and his threats against a nuclear North Korea have no teeth. His withdrawal from the Paris accords was regarded as stupid and throughout Europe, Trump and by association the U.S., is looked now upon as a bad joke. He has handed Syria to the Russians and emboldened Saudi Arabia in the disaster that is Yemen. And he has unnerved most of the world by his bizarre approach to Putin.
71
Thank you, Mr. Spitzer, for reiterating the talking points of the Democratic National Committee.
Perhaps you should start your analyses with what President Obama left for his successor to face...a world where the word of the United States no longer held any meaning, and the threatening rise of Russia and China and of the Muslim militants in the Middle East.
A careful analysis will tell you that Crimea will be part of Russia for quite some time to come, Eastern Europe will continue to be threatened with Russian hegemony, China will continue to fortify the South China Sea, and ISIS and its affiliates will continue to wage religious war in the Middle East because Obama and his administration underestimated or dismissed the potentials for international destabilization that those threats posed.
Since your ideology put our nation on its back foot during the Obama years, wouldn't it be appropriate for you to stand quietly on the sidelines what others are repair the damage rather than sniping bleachers?
Our political scene might just be less divisive if you did.
Perhaps you should start your analyses with what President Obama left for his successor to face...a world where the word of the United States no longer held any meaning, and the threatening rise of Russia and China and of the Muslim militants in the Middle East.
A careful analysis will tell you that Crimea will be part of Russia for quite some time to come, Eastern Europe will continue to be threatened with Russian hegemony, China will continue to fortify the South China Sea, and ISIS and its affiliates will continue to wage religious war in the Middle East because Obama and his administration underestimated or dismissed the potentials for international destabilization that those threats posed.
Since your ideology put our nation on its back foot during the Obama years, wouldn't it be appropriate for you to stand quietly on the sidelines what others are repair the damage rather than sniping bleachers?
Our political scene might just be less divisive if you did.
3
Mr. Stephens: Thanks for the step you've taken out on this limb. That the Trump administration is a betrayal, in foreign policy, of a long held conservative belief: "that we really are, as Lincoln said, “the last best hope of earth,” and that our foreign policy should be equal to that hope."
I appreciate, too, your exceptionally clear, educated writing, especially in a time when Republicans of all stripes seem to accept lies and know-nothing word salad as a proper and moral mode of communication. You have the courage to be clear, even as you know that clarity is easily debated.
I appreciate, too, your exceptionally clear, educated writing, especially in a time when Republicans of all stripes seem to accept lies and know-nothing word salad as a proper and moral mode of communication. You have the courage to be clear, even as you know that clarity is easily debated.
3
From a european perspective the similarity of the political agenda between Trump and Berlusconi is clearly evident.
Both of them see the world exclusively from their business perspective and see no moral obligations tor their voters whatsoever. From their own egomaniac view their path is straight and clear !
Both of them see the world exclusively from their business perspective and see no moral obligations tor their voters whatsoever. From their own egomaniac view their path is straight and clear !
6
lets be clear...... trump does not have policies.
10
Trump stopped funding the Syrian rebels - that is a win for Assad
Assad does not fear the US. Trump is rolling over for Putin at the expense of the western world for a country that sells nothing, makes nothing and sows trouble everywhere.
Assad does not fear the US. Trump is rolling over for Putin at the expense of the western world for a country that sells nothing, makes nothing and sows trouble everywhere.
9
Bret, the election of our beloved leader did not happen in a vacuum. it has been a long progressive process to which "the last best hope of earth"-party shares a good part of the responsibility for.
Where was that "the last best hope of earth"-party when creating a better plan than ACA, rather than take the easy way and just say no.
Where was that "the last best hope of earth"-party when it came to making that decision about Iraq?
Where was that "the last best hope of earth"-party when it came to leadership in the world on the future, in areas of fossil fuels and alternative energy?
First, dumb down the population with sound bytes, because we have to win the election.
Second, dumb down the population on what their obligations are as citizens and people of a nation.
Finally, dumb down the population on the truth.
if you want to put forward "the last best hope of earth"-party, call them out when they sin against God and man.
Where was that "the last best hope of earth"-party when creating a better plan than ACA, rather than take the easy way and just say no.
Where was that "the last best hope of earth"-party when it came to making that decision about Iraq?
Where was that "the last best hope of earth"-party when it came to leadership in the world on the future, in areas of fossil fuels and alternative energy?
First, dumb down the population with sound bytes, because we have to win the election.
Second, dumb down the population on what their obligations are as citizens and people of a nation.
Finally, dumb down the population on the truth.
if you want to put forward "the last best hope of earth"-party, call them out when they sin against God and man.
7
Conservatives and liberals alike should note that the State Department, with its many area specialists, appears to play no role in formulating foreign policy in the Trump administration. The Defense Department has played an outsized role for many decades, and now it appears to absolutely dominate foreign policy.
Pundits are ignoring this aspect of the Trump Presidency.
Pundits are ignoring this aspect of the Trump Presidency.
16
When it comes to DoS, could we be misdiagnosing the problem? Is the problem DoD is doing everything or is greater reliance on DoD a symptom of DoS being an ineffective organization in need of massive reform in order to solve contemporary problems?
Top diplomats abroad (like Preet Bharara and his colleagues) were given notice and not replaced in the early days of the Trump administration.
Vacating diplomacy is stupid and dangerous, and blaming the victims is terrible too. Tantrums solve nothing, and tantrums with weapons are even worse.
Tillerson is enabling Trump in vacating wisdom and replacing it with clumping force.
When there was an earthquake years ago in Afghanistan Americans were on the frontlines helping. We made friends (gasp)! Going in and destroying neighborhood enables terrorists.
Churchill: Jaw jaw is better than war war.
Vacating diplomacy is stupid and dangerous, and blaming the victims is terrible too. Tantrums solve nothing, and tantrums with weapons are even worse.
Tillerson is enabling Trump in vacating wisdom and replacing it with clumping force.
When there was an earthquake years ago in Afghanistan Americans were on the frontlines helping. We made friends (gasp)! Going in and destroying neighborhood enables terrorists.
Churchill: Jaw jaw is better than war war.
2
The reliance on DoD most likely relates to the old adage about everything looking like a nail when all you have at your disposal (in this case, intellectually) is a hammer...either that, or the arms-makers who put this administration in office are ready to start their promised glorious feast at the taxpayer trough...
I suspect it's both.
I suspect it's both.
2
BBC News footage of Yemeni children dying of starvation and cholera while Trump ships arms to Saudis to further decimate Yemen shows our new foreign policy is ignorant, obscene, heartless. Tillerson, the generals and Trump are even worse than Bush II, Cheney et al.
14
How about a negative A+.
Or a negative A- because one needs a bit of floor for future catastrophes.
Or a negative A- because one needs a bit of floor for future catastrophes.
4
Bret, are you delusional? Assad fears us? With Trump in the palm of Putin's hand Assad has nothing to fear. A few missiles were just for show. Cutting off aid to the insurgents is a more substantial sign.
Retreat? We are in full retreat from our commitments to our allies, to our planet and to our country's best ideals. We can only hope that the damage done may be repaired after 2020.
The hair is a cover up but it is also deeply revealing. Comb-overs don't work in Teddy Roosevelt's arena.
Retreat? We are in full retreat from our commitments to our allies, to our planet and to our country's best ideals. We can only hope that the damage done may be repaired after 2020.
The hair is a cover up but it is also deeply revealing. Comb-overs don't work in Teddy Roosevelt's arena.
14
So, Mr. Stephens, Hillary Clinton would have made us a country "whose friends didn’t trust us." I suppose you think Mrs. Merkle's statement that Europe is on its own and had better start acting like it means she respects and trusts the Trump administration. Wow. Instead of worrying that we might not be there for them in tough times with Hillary, now Europe knows that Trump might ignore NATO commitments, and instead turn our military into the world's biggest mercenary force, for rent to the highest bidder. Glad we got that settled early on. Wonder how the mothers of our military members feel having such a transactional view of their service coming from the top.
10
The Trump administration has done absolutely nothing in foreign affairs that should give anyone confidence in Trump's competency in foreign affairs. Trump's obvious goal is to placate Putin and to solidify Putin's protection of Assad in Syria. Trump believes an alliance with Russia "would be a good thing," while not able to comprehend that Russia is an ally of Iran, a nation that Trump sees as the main exporter of terrorism and principal supporter of Hezbollah, the arch enemy of Israel. Trump's secret meetings with Putin, and blatant disregard of the warnings of H. R. McMaster and Fiona Hill should raise alarm bells for any thoughful American, but don't should concern all of us.
10
One can easily get the impression that Trump, his family and the people in their orbit are all about making money. It seems that the more noble purposes of governance, such as ending war and suffering, encouraging tolerance and personal freedom, improving lives and protecting the planet, have not occurred to them. I don't think selfless magnanimity or true patriotism is in their DNA. Even worse, Trump in all his awfulness has given cover to malignant beings like Scott Pruitt, Tom Price and Mitch McConnell to inflict their particular poison on the country. So my grade for Trump would be an F- and I fervently hope his impeachment will come sooner than later.
9
Whether or not Trump is feared or loved in matters of foreign policy is not relevant. What matters most for any American Presidents foreign policy is trust and respect.
Whether or not liberals or conservatives are pleased with a President's foreign policy also does not matter. As one United States of America we all have to live with the costs and benefits of our President's foreign policy.
Trump showed his utter contempt for foreign policy by appointing Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and Nikki Halley as UN Ambassador. To call these two neophytes, ignorant, incompetent and inexperienced is much too praiseworthy.
Tillerson is a potted plant. Halley has verbal diarrhea. Being the prize winning friend of Russia while CEO of Exxon-Mobil in an administration enthralled by Putin and men in uniform makes Rex Tillerson a foreign policy black hole. Nikki Haley's stint as governor of South Carolina pales in comparison to the foreign policy experience and talent of Samantha Power and Susan Rice.
The real people in charge of Trump foreign policy are Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner. And they make Tillerson look like George C. Marshall and Nikki Halley resemble Adlai Stevenson.
Whether or not liberals or conservatives are pleased with a President's foreign policy also does not matter. As one United States of America we all have to live with the costs and benefits of our President's foreign policy.
Trump showed his utter contempt for foreign policy by appointing Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and Nikki Halley as UN Ambassador. To call these two neophytes, ignorant, incompetent and inexperienced is much too praiseworthy.
Tillerson is a potted plant. Halley has verbal diarrhea. Being the prize winning friend of Russia while CEO of Exxon-Mobil in an administration enthralled by Putin and men in uniform makes Rex Tillerson a foreign policy black hole. Nikki Haley's stint as governor of South Carolina pales in comparison to the foreign policy experience and talent of Samantha Power and Susan Rice.
The real people in charge of Trump foreign policy are Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner. And they make Tillerson look like George C. Marshall and Nikki Halley resemble Adlai Stevenson.
14
“… a more muscular approach against the Islamic State, Iran and North Korea.”
Does this muscular approach include certifying, “that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal?” Has this muscular approach deterred North Korea one iota in its repeated “in your face” missile tests, including an ICBM capable of hitting the United States? To paraphrase Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” – Muscular approach should be made of sterner stuff: Yet Brett says he was muscular; And Brett is an honorable man.
Does this muscular approach include certifying, “that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal?” Has this muscular approach deterred North Korea one iota in its repeated “in your face” missile tests, including an ICBM capable of hitting the United States? To paraphrase Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” – Muscular approach should be made of sterner stuff: Yet Brett says he was muscular; And Brett is an honorable man.
3
A bully by any other name. Trumps style if you can call it a style, is not normal for a person. blue collar or Ivy League. It's clearly a strong man style. He is not a uniter but a divider. The psychosis list is long. He has a court not a cabinet. He and his family probably watch game of thrones or the sopranos and think this is how it should be. The World he believes should be his oyster. The one with the fake pearls. I have friends who are hard core conservatives. They think he is great. He is sticking it to the liberals and telling the rest of the world where to get off. He talks big but has no stick. America no longer leads the free world. We can have no credible foreign policy when we are in the mist of a fratricidal purge.
9
Actually, it looks like the Trump Administration is gearing up for war. He just quietly signed a little-publicized executive order on the Dept. of Defense acquisition process. The text wasn't released.
Usually he makes a big deal of signing executive orders.
He's turned war over to the generals, as you'll recall, and isn't involved any more. This should be an realm of concern. You wonder if he's about to make a profit somehow on defense acquisitions. Or give his personally favored countries access to contracts. As in the Cheney/Halliburton days.
In May, Trump quietly signed a trade-related executive order on trade enforcement and trade promotion activities. We have no idea if his corporate interests have expanded to profit. Or who is involved in trade on defense equipment.
He shuffled trade advisory boards, and back in March his administration interfered in a United States International Trade Administration case.
It's interesting he's low-keyed these developments.
Usually he makes a big deal of signing executive orders.
He's turned war over to the generals, as you'll recall, and isn't involved any more. This should be an realm of concern. You wonder if he's about to make a profit somehow on defense acquisitions. Or give his personally favored countries access to contracts. As in the Cheney/Halliburton days.
In May, Trump quietly signed a trade-related executive order on trade enforcement and trade promotion activities. We have no idea if his corporate interests have expanded to profit. Or who is involved in trade on defense equipment.
He shuffled trade advisory boards, and back in March his administration interfered in a United States International Trade Administration case.
It's interesting he's low-keyed these developments.
5
Dear Conservative Diary,
Wait, I thought Trump knows more than the generals. He told me that. He had the secret plan to defeat ISIS. He promised me. He was going to drain the swamp and give me beautiful healthcare for free. He was going to jail Hillary because they found a email to Wall Street on Weiner's computer. That's why I voted for him - he promised me.
Wait, I thought Trump knows more than the generals. He told me that. He had the secret plan to defeat ISIS. He promised me. He was going to drain the swamp and give me beautiful healthcare for free. He was going to jail Hillary because they found a email to Wall Street on Weiner's computer. That's why I voted for him - he promised me.
5
As Mr David Brooks has been lamenting in his columns, first subtly and now quite openly, if I read his columns right, real conservatism is pretty dead, unless you consider "the Get Government Off My Back Party, the Leave Us Alone Coalition, the Drain the Swamp Party, the Don’t Tread on Me Party," are the keeper of the flame.
We are not talking about Mr Brooks's column but without a bona fide conservative yardstick, how are you going to judge Trump's monstrosity? Look, had Barry Goldwater Jr been alive today, he would have considered a raging progressive. You have Karl Rove to thank. By marrying the social reactionaries with the Randians, Trump is the natural ill-begotten. People throwing all these isms around will not bring conservatism back
We are not talking about Mr Brooks's column but without a bona fide conservative yardstick, how are you going to judge Trump's monstrosity? Look, had Barry Goldwater Jr been alive today, he would have considered a raging progressive. You have Karl Rove to thank. By marrying the social reactionaries with the Randians, Trump is the natural ill-begotten. People throwing all these isms around will not bring conservatism back
8
You might mention that the Trump administration (I use that term loosely) has also ceded economic dominance of the Pacific Rim to China by simply walking away from the TPP.
McMaster's portrayals of our foreign military adventures sound increasingly similar to those of William Westmoreland's. That alone is a bitter, bitter pill for the country.
McMaster's portrayals of our foreign military adventures sound increasingly similar to those of William Westmoreland's. That alone is a bitter, bitter pill for the country.
17
Right on. Trump has ceded the economy to China, the world leadership to Europe, and national security to Russia. A perfect conservative trifecta.
7
The problem with this column is the opening analogy. Trump is neither feared nor loved. Scorned and loathed, perhaps. Most particularly by those on the receiving end of his foreign antics.
25
Trump's life revolves around money. All decisions, great and small, are focused on satiating his personal greed and lust. That being said, there was plenty of research material regarding his character available for the interested voter on the web. A quick Google of his AC (Atlantic City) business bankruptcies will provide the details of how he screwed his employees, suppliers, tradespeople, bondholders and shareholders alike. Well, one might say that those bankruptcies were long ago. OK, you're right but has he changed? Take a moment out to research the more recent Trump U and Trump Institute shams and you'll find the same old Donald, though more crusty, ruthless and heartless. What I, and many of my compatriots, find so hard to believe is that people voted for him without researching his background. The answer seems to be that voters wanted a business man in the Whitehouse. One without the political baggage and experience of the same old politicians we've been voting for year-after-year. Well, I wouldn't feel too comfortable sitting on a bus with a bus driver that's never driven a bus before. Here we have a man, with zero political experience who doesn't know how to swim, stepping into an ocean filled with political alligators. An ocean he can't drain. One thing is for certain, eventually the bill will come due and it's the voters who'll pay the price.
17
You have to give him an A for sword dancing. One attendee at the dance, a Saudi Royal family member, said the President was the best sword dancer he's ever seen.
5
Interesting. Depending upon which school of "conservativism" you subscribe to, you would give Trump a wildly different grade on his foreign policy.
This gives the reader insight into the main characteristic of the modern conservative thought process: total incoherence.
Also interesting: Bret Stephens does not offer any insight into what grade he, himself, would assign.
Welcome to the world of modern conservatism.
This gives the reader insight into the main characteristic of the modern conservative thought process: total incoherence.
Also interesting: Bret Stephens does not offer any insight into what grade he, himself, would assign.
Welcome to the world of modern conservatism.
4
I think it was in the last line of the essay: O.M.G.
3
It is not surprising that Stephens--a person who cannot see a single flaw in Israel's policies--sees imaginary virtues in the Trump administration.
Regarding his quotation of Lincoln to the effect that we, America, "is the last best hope of earth," and that our foreign policy should reflect this, perhaps we meet Stephens' criteria quite well: after all, Israel directs our foreign policy, and our economy only works so long as it has unlimited access to Chinese loans. And our president's sole concern seems to be shifting money from the lower and middle classes to the richest people in our country.
Regarding his quotation of Lincoln to the effect that we, America, "is the last best hope of earth," and that our foreign policy should reflect this, perhaps we meet Stephens' criteria quite well: after all, Israel directs our foreign policy, and our economy only works so long as it has unlimited access to Chinese loans. And our president's sole concern seems to be shifting money from the lower and middle classes to the richest people in our country.
6
I guess the surprising idea in this piece is that Trump has a policy! I thought policy implied a coherent thought or plan or concept. He's like a drunken bum stumbling down the street, knocking down this old lady and tripping over that dog and overturning that trash can while other pedestrians and drivers try to avoid him. If the end result of all the ensuing confusion can be called policy, then maybe the word can stand.
14
The administration has a foreign policy? Wouldn't appear so. You're inventing one in hindsight from a series of events. Grade for your column: Redo.
9
Mr. Stephens, your 'Report Card' is premature. I am disheartened having purchased 'America in Retreat' and heard you speak on defense of U.S.and Israel bonds you do not give the President more credit for strengthening that relationship. As for Syria, I suspect even poor Senator McCain will acknowledge there exist no viable 'allies' to fund. Plus, the President acted strongly against Assad when it counted, unlike Obama. Early after the election this newspaper featured a story that '...Chancellor Merkel is now the West's leader of freedom's forces...' and I cringed. I doubt history's verdict will be that Germany, the perpetrator of the greatest crimes against humanity, will ever play that role. The President's speech in Warsaw recently, gave me great hope he will defend Western values, yet you remain dismissive (O.M.G. is your 'grade') You reveal yourself when you describe supporters like me as 'Trumpkins', Mrs. Clinton called us 'deplorables' before. I supported and support the President, not 'Donald', as a disaffected Democratic lawyer.
2
Encouraged by Trump's visit, the Polish government enacted a law putting the Polish Supreme Court under the control of the Executive branch. This seems more like authoritarianism than democracy, and more like one-party rule than what we think of as Western values. But then, today's conservatives crave absolute power, while ignoring the attendant absolute corruption.
14
Surrender to Russia is Trump's one consistent policy of any kind. The Republican party embraces it fully.
8
If we keep listening to our Apprentice-in-Chief and do the wrong things for the wrong reasons (thinking it's all ok, "give him some time to figure things out") that Lincoln quote will have to change to "America, last, worst AND hopeless ".
Those easy-A grades of yours from graduates of conservative Powder Puff University, given out to the rocks that think they are jocks, don't help either.
Those easy-A grades of yours from graduates of conservative Powder Puff University, given out to the rocks that think they are jocks, don't help either.
4
Conservatives who hate Obama (I happen to believe it is the color of his skin many can't abide and couldn't get past) cannot admit that he was arguably the most circumspect, intelligent and ethical decision-maker we have seen in the White House in a long lifetime. He can hardly be compared to the current resident whose lack of knowledge, ethics and self control has the potential to create chaos the world could be dealing with for decades after he is gone. OMG for sure. Wake up, conservatives, and save us from this terrible mistake.
19
Agree. And just to take it one step further -- Conservatives not only hate Obama for the fact that he's Black, but for the fact that he was elected...TWICE! -- and with high approval ratings.
Which is why they're bending over backwards to abrogate or erase every single policy, or act of legislation associated with this name. And they think that's winning.
Which is why they're bending over backwards to abrogate or erase every single policy, or act of legislation associated with this name. And they think that's winning.
4
Stephens and his fellow Zionist neocons want Trump to promote regime change in Iran through military action. This would be a disaster for America but Stephens doesn't care because his only loyalty is to Israel and its warmongering PM Netanyahu. The same lies that the neocons told about Iraq are now being told about Iran.
6
It's a wonder that the neo-cons keep pushing for military intervention in the Middle East. They're convinced that if we bash our heads against that brick wall enough times, it will crumble. And we won't be bloody and concussed.
3
Keep hope alive, right Bret?
1
"transactionalism"?
Is that a fancy new version of the beggar-thy-neighbor policies?
Even Adam Smith thought it was a bad idea.
Is that a fancy new version of the beggar-thy-neighbor policies?
Even Adam Smith thought it was a bad idea.
4
The dysfunctional meandering of a policy has opened the dooors for an expansionist china to globally eviscerate American values and purpose. We will have a hard time recovering from this policy malfunctioning being demonstrated.
Sadly by 2030 we will face a society aka China that is hell bent on reducing many of the global impact of core American values viz : freedom of speech, democracy, ability to independently think, just society, rule of law, peer driven research from the global lexicon.
Shut off in our own world and excommunicated by the actions of an expansionist China we will look at the events in 2017 with regret of what we could have have helped change and deflect.
In the absence of American leadership - A"Minority report" dystopian world driven by China' s world view underpinned by their technology, research and Investment is a scary option for the future..
Sadly by 2030 we will face a society aka China that is hell bent on reducing many of the global impact of core American values viz : freedom of speech, democracy, ability to independently think, just society, rule of law, peer driven research from the global lexicon.
Shut off in our own world and excommunicated by the actions of an expansionist China we will look at the events in 2017 with regret of what we could have have helped change and deflect.
In the absence of American leadership - A"Minority report" dystopian world driven by China' s world view underpinned by their technology, research and Investment is a scary option for the future..
2
I take exception to the favorable comment about Trump having three generals in his Cabinet as indicative of working more closely with Defense and National Security, let alone the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Let's drop Kelly out, since he his off in Homeland Security. Also, Donald showed that he doesn't know how to use them, when he had Secretary of State Rex Tillerson threaten North Korea with are-emptive attack!
Trump likes to deal with small loyal groups that he can trust. And, once you get beyond Ivanka and Jared, who are his confidantes? By Having a retired General, Mattis, as Secretary of Defense, and an active General, H. R. McMaster, as National Security Advisor, there is the perception that Trump seeks the advice of "The Generals."
Mattis and McMaster areTrump's Men, and serve at his convenience. According to H. R. McMaster, in his "Dereliction of Duty", generals who work directly for the President and SecDef, no longer have the soldiers, sailors, airman and Marines as constituents. And thus, the Joint Chiefs are no longer in the equation. especially with a President who only seeks counsel from a few.
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
Trump likes to deal with small loyal groups that he can trust. And, once you get beyond Ivanka and Jared, who are his confidantes? By Having a retired General, Mattis, as Secretary of Defense, and an active General, H. R. McMaster, as National Security Advisor, there is the perception that Trump seeks the advice of "The Generals."
Mattis and McMaster areTrump's Men, and serve at his convenience. According to H. R. McMaster, in his "Dereliction of Duty", generals who work directly for the President and SecDef, no longer have the soldiers, sailors, airman and Marines as constituents. And thus, the Joint Chiefs are no longer in the equation. especially with a President who only seeks counsel from a few.
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
3
Trump picked some really talented team members. But he has a hard time doing his own part, thinking more and speaking less.
3
Have you not noticed that Trump doesn't even let his team members speak??? -- how is it possible to know whether or not they're "talented"?
This evaluation would make sense if Trump actually HAD a foreign policy. To keep to the analogy of a grading system and take it a bit further, Trump would be a special needs student. He seems either through no fault of his own or simply his overblown ego, not to have the ability or interest to learn about any subject to actually form a reasoned evaluation or plan. When he does come forth with a thin evaluation, he always keeps the details to himself (if there are any) or says they will be coming, usually in a couple weeks. He also seems to have a memory block so that how he perceives and acts in any given arena on any given day does not define what his perceptions and actions will be the next day, or sometimes even hours later. Too much credit seems to be given here to assume that Trump formulates policy, much less understands it. In just one recent news cycle, his words and actions surrounding the Republicans' failed efforts to wipe out the ACA and present an alternative were all over the map. It seems to me that the only consistencies to be presented by Trump are that his hair seems to stay in place most of the time and his tie length doesn't change. When it comes to Russia, well...depends on whether he thinks Putin is his BFF or has rebuffed Trump's clumsy efforts to get there. Any attempt to analyze Trump's position on anything is a futile exercise, since there is nothing solid to be able build a foundation for reason.
59
"The Clinton team would have consisted of Brookings Institution types trying to extend the Obama administration’s legacy of American retreat — of appeasing adversaries, alienating allies, and turning us into a country whose enemies didn’t fear us and whose friends didn’t trust us."
You seem to be describing Trump administration policies, not possible Clinton ones here. Trump appeased Russia, alienated Europe, and made the US a laughing stock, not a country to be feared.
You seem to be describing Trump administration policies, not possible Clinton ones here. Trump appeased Russia, alienated Europe, and made the US a laughing stock, not a country to be feared.
7
Bashar al Assad doesn't fear Trump. At all.
As a candidate, he proposed working with Assad's ally Russia in Syria, and he parroted the Syrian government line that it's Assad or terrorists.
As president, he just cut a deal with Putin to stop supplying anti-Assad rebels in southwestern Syria.
Are you basing this Syria-fears-us assessment on the April 7 missile strike on Shayrat airbase? The United States gave Syria advance notice and did such little damage that planes took off from the base the next day.
I guess "Trumpkin" is the right word for people who buy that Bashar al Assad now fears us, because it's a story that has nothing to do with the facts.
As a candidate, he proposed working with Assad's ally Russia in Syria, and he parroted the Syrian government line that it's Assad or terrorists.
As president, he just cut a deal with Putin to stop supplying anti-Assad rebels in southwestern Syria.
Are you basing this Syria-fears-us assessment on the April 7 missile strike on Shayrat airbase? The United States gave Syria advance notice and did such little damage that planes took off from the base the next day.
I guess "Trumpkin" is the right word for people who buy that Bashar al Assad now fears us, because it's a story that has nothing to do with the facts.
6
Trump doesn't have a foreign policy. He judges other countries based on two things: What can they do for him (not for America) financially, and how important they can make him feel. Now, watch this drive...
8
Trump's foreign policy is "keep them guessing", a policy based on opportunity, whim and ignorance, whose underlying principle is unpredictability. He makes a point of not doing what he says he's going to do, either by design or forgetfulness. He lies constantly about what he has done, which can only be understood by turning everything he says upside down. He has abandoned the State Department in order to promulgate a personality based foreign policy mediated by himself, President and master of the mess of his own making.
3
You forgot to mention Saudi Arabia. There's now reason to believe the entire interaction was a deal to bailout Jared Kushner's underwater flagship. Don't forget the awkwardness in China either. Stephens also understates the Russian problem dramatically. Personally, I wouldn't bother grading Trump. I'd approach the dean about academic dishonesty.
7
It's important to note that Machiavelli was talking about being feared or loved in The Prince, which was a satire agaiinst tyrants who came to power illegitimately—in that case, the Medici ruling Florence. Machiavelli was a republican; he had been displaced from office and tortured within an inch of his life by the Medici; the book was not published in his lifetime but circulated underground. He was saying that tyrants would not be loved so they focus on being feared and try to avoid being hated. There is some relevance here, so it's an apt reference.
6
Stephens should have first provided a definition of what he considers a conservative. I know that my now deceased father would not have been a Trump man (he did not like Trump) and at the age of 89 did not intend to vote in 2016, for the first time in his life, due to his dislike of Clinton, and the turn of Fox News to the surreal, though he considered himself a staunch conservative his entire life. (Please note his mind was as good at 89 as at 59.) He based his conservatives beliefs on fiscal and foreign policy, rather than religious belief. The same cannot be said today.
4
If that was indeed true he should have loved HRC. She was more Republican than Donald Trump--by a long long shot.
3
@mj
Just for the record.
Trump is incapable of "loving" anyone other than himself.
What?...you didn't notice???
Just for the record.
Trump is incapable of "loving" anyone other than himself.
What?...you didn't notice???
1
"What, you have an objection to Jim Mattis at Defense, John Kelly at Homeland Security, Mike Pompeo at C.I.A. and H. R. McMaster as security adviser?"
The other day a family member cited the appointment of these ex-generals as one of President Trump's great accomplishments. As I thought about this claim, I had two thoughts. First, I have felt this way too. When I asked myself why, I realized I had a favorable opinion of these men because I have been influenced by media coverage bordering on hagiography. Second, each man agreed to be in the Trump Administration and they own the fruits of their labor.
In the case of Kelly and Mattis, their uniformed service deserves our respect and bought them a six month honeymoon with the media. Now it is time to cover them as components of the Trump Administration. I hope to see some critical coverage, including in the Op-Ed section, describing the policies these men are supporting and implementing.
The other day a family member cited the appointment of these ex-generals as one of President Trump's great accomplishments. As I thought about this claim, I had two thoughts. First, I have felt this way too. When I asked myself why, I realized I had a favorable opinion of these men because I have been influenced by media coverage bordering on hagiography. Second, each man agreed to be in the Trump Administration and they own the fruits of their labor.
In the case of Kelly and Mattis, their uniformed service deserves our respect and bought them a six month honeymoon with the media. Now it is time to cover them as components of the Trump Administration. I hope to see some critical coverage, including in the Op-Ed section, describing the policies these men are supporting and implementing.
10
Mr. Stephens really needs to check some uncomfortable facts about the Obama/Clinton foreign policy agenda, which included such successes as Libya, Yemen and Syria. If anything, the mere fact that the US was funding and supporting al-Qaeda affiliated jihadis in Syria, as part of its strategy of regime change, should have not only raised eyebrows, but caused a major outcry. The fact is, Assad and Russia were the ONLY ones fighting ISIS for a very long time, even as the US and its allies, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as well as Israel, funneled huge sums of money to IS, either directly or through the purchase of oil. Jihadist fighters imported from well known fundamentalist regions were given free passage into Syria via Turkey, by the thousands. And, let's not forget, candidate Trump railed against China more than once. My guess is that a friendly Russia is seen as a possible bulwark against what is seen as a rising threat in the Pacific.
2
You do understand that the state of Syria today is the result of drought and vanishing farmland ignored by the government and brought on by Global Climate Change, right?
No, the drought in Syria was brought about by dams constructed further north in Turkey, that cut off the natural water supply. Had nothing to do with climate change. It's totally man made.
2
Trump has a foreign policy?
79
The most far reaching consequence of Trump's incoherent foreign policy is that it has thrown regions around the world from Africa to Central America to the Far East upon their own devices, and, as the countries of these regions learn to negotiate and cooperate with one another (having no reliable 'big brother' in Uncle Sam to lean on) they will be tougher for America to control and manipulate in the future. Maybe that's a good thing, however unintended.
9
There are different kinds of conservatives, but most would be uncomfortable with soldiers as Secretary of Defense, National Security Adviser, and Secretary of Homeland Security. They would be even more uncomfortable with a president who delegated war- making policy to these soldiers. They would insist on civilian control of the military and decisions to send troops into battle--as we seem about to do in Afghanistan.
They would not threaten countries that the U.S. has made an important arms control treaty with, such as Iran.
They would think a columnist flippant for engaging in counter-factual reasoning, such as what the "Clinton team" would have done.
They would not use historical analogies regarding Acheson, Truman, and Vandenberg, let alone Machiavelli and Lincoln, to assess what current measures should be undertaken.
They would not threaten countries that the U.S. has made an important arms control treaty with, such as Iran.
They would think a columnist flippant for engaging in counter-factual reasoning, such as what the "Clinton team" would have done.
They would not use historical analogies regarding Acheson, Truman, and Vandenberg, let alone Machiavelli and Lincoln, to assess what current measures should be undertaken.
7
A letter grade to assess actions have consequences, stimulus and response. A telling insight is to read the non-verbal queues and micro expressions of the Administration's staff that are the public face selling the product. A useful primer is, Reading the Mind in the Eyes test.
I'm waiting for Ron Popeil to join the team as a Trump product pitchman on late night media.
I'm waiting for Ron Popeil to join the team as a Trump product pitchman on late night media.
16
"The Clinton team would have consisted of Brookings Institution types trying to extend the Obama administration’s legacy of American retreat — of appeasing adversaries, alienating allies, and turning us into a country whose enemies didn’t fear us and whose friends didn’t trust us."
Excuse me? The above defines Trumpism to a T. Just add a capital "A" to the word appeasing, because so far Trump is on track to become the worst foreign policy maker since the Brits refused to challenge Germany in the buildup to WWII.
If only Donald studied history. Mr. Brooks, you conclude this piece with the word "hope," as in American values that Trump has gleefully thrown out with the bathwater, delighting in bulldozing old assumptions in the New World Order.
But please don't think he has a design, a governing philosophy. A man who lives in the moment, rejects preparing for international meetings, and puts personal survival over country-even in the face of a widening Russian collusion scandal--has shown himself to be totally untrustworthy.
O.M.G. is fitting reaction to how quickly our image in the world has fallen, leaving the rest of the world to scratch it's figurative head over "what's going on" in America.
Excuse me? The above defines Trumpism to a T. Just add a capital "A" to the word appeasing, because so far Trump is on track to become the worst foreign policy maker since the Brits refused to challenge Germany in the buildup to WWII.
If only Donald studied history. Mr. Brooks, you conclude this piece with the word "hope," as in American values that Trump has gleefully thrown out with the bathwater, delighting in bulldozing old assumptions in the New World Order.
But please don't think he has a design, a governing philosophy. A man who lives in the moment, rejects preparing for international meetings, and puts personal survival over country-even in the face of a widening Russian collusion scandal--has shown himself to be totally untrustworthy.
O.M.G. is fitting reaction to how quickly our image in the world has fallen, leaving the rest of the world to scratch it's figurative head over "what's going on" in America.
52
Many European friends of mine have asked exactly that, "what is going on in America?". Unfortunately I don't have a clue. It no longer seems like the same country that I have lived in my entire life.
7
It's Mr. Stephens, not Mr. Brooks. I guess all these conservatives sound alike.
2
@Dickinson
And after the recent G7, NATO and G20 meetings, my European family and friends have simply stopped asking.
And after the recent G7, NATO and G20 meetings, my European family and friends have simply stopped asking.
1
No discussion of Trump's foreign policy should exclude these factors:
What about conflicts of interest with his foreign-owned properties and how that influences his policy decisions.
And how his companies assets/interests/incomes directly relate. Recall how Bush/Cheney's invasion of Iraq was tied to oil. Both men were oil executives prior to taking office.
Not to mention the huge potential for foreign interests to influence Mr. Trump. Investigations found almost 71% of Trump properties bought last year hid identities of the owners.
NY Attorney Preet Bharara was investigating Trump for money laundering right when he was fired by Trump. Covert, secret sales create opportunities for foreign influence on this president.
The corrupting influence of Russia is especially prominent. Trump essentially turned over Syria to Russia, which is horrifying some national security experts.
His regard for NATO, his comment that he got a bad impression of European allies because he couldn't get a golf course built one time.
What about conflicts of interest with his foreign-owned properties and how that influences his policy decisions.
And how his companies assets/interests/incomes directly relate. Recall how Bush/Cheney's invasion of Iraq was tied to oil. Both men were oil executives prior to taking office.
Not to mention the huge potential for foreign interests to influence Mr. Trump. Investigations found almost 71% of Trump properties bought last year hid identities of the owners.
NY Attorney Preet Bharara was investigating Trump for money laundering right when he was fired by Trump. Covert, secret sales create opportunities for foreign influence on this president.
The corrupting influence of Russia is especially prominent. Trump essentially turned over Syria to Russia, which is horrifying some national security experts.
His regard for NATO, his comment that he got a bad impression of European allies because he couldn't get a golf course built one time.
11
This administration has ditched the pursuit of Roddenberry's utopian Federation and adopted the Ferengi's Rules of Acquisition. Corruption in the pursuit of more money is the new patriotism!
20
The NY Times continues to be a one big gossip column.
2
And yet here you are.
3
Then why read it? This is, after all, the Opinion Page.
3
Trump is an embarrassment . As an older white male traveling,some people assume you are like Trump! When we had our great multi-cultural President Obama, I was proud to be an American in Paris or elsewhere!!
18
Easily the worst article I have ever read in the N.Y. Times.
10
I'm so relieved the Times has Bret on board to help shore up and serve up the conservative spin that Douthat and Brooks have struggled with delivering for the last couple of years. He's the relief pitcher while the other two are in psychotherapy or confession, or both.
Bret will give us lots of "Reagan is good, Obama is bad, Thatcher is good, Hillary is bad stuff." All the while, his party and our country is in meltdown, but we will be led to believe that it's the Democrats who are in charge of all the destruction.
And once in awhile he'll be just flabbergasted at a comment spoken by one of his conservative (and Christian, by God!) party leaders that is racist or anti-Semitic in tone, just so you know he is not an RNC bot, but a "thinking man's conservative."
And there's this guarantee: He will never mention the Bush/Cheney "Con Dynasty" reign that gave us 911, two unfunded trillion-dollar wars, hundreds of thousands of people killed, a recession and high unemployment.
Bret will give us lots of "Reagan is good, Obama is bad, Thatcher is good, Hillary is bad stuff." All the while, his party and our country is in meltdown, but we will be led to believe that it's the Democrats who are in charge of all the destruction.
And once in awhile he'll be just flabbergasted at a comment spoken by one of his conservative (and Christian, by God!) party leaders that is racist or anti-Semitic in tone, just so you know he is not an RNC bot, but a "thinking man's conservative."
And there's this guarantee: He will never mention the Bush/Cheney "Con Dynasty" reign that gave us 911, two unfunded trillion-dollar wars, hundreds of thousands of people killed, a recession and high unemployment.
35
I agree! Conservatives have come to believe in their own Fox news propaganda. The mission is to stir up their uninformed base who knew they would be dumb enough to believe such drivel.
1
Trump doesn't have a foreign policy. His grade is ZERO.
13
Foreign policy is about what other nations think and do and how this effects American interests.
No nation takes America under Trump seriously. Most all are watchful because crazy.
America's major adversaries are gleeful. It's allies resigned to decline and incompetence from Trump. And the experts. Those concerned about the future, as in Asia, see America as a bad bet in what is to come.
Want to know how we ended up here? A Times prize hire supposed thinking conservative writes on the premise American
domestic politics of idiotic liberal versus conservative blather is how American foreign policy can be judged
One more American so clueless they pull out a mirror to talk about themselves as what foreign policy is about. Kim's nukes can be launched onto LA or not. For pity's sake. It is not about you Bret. The blast wave won't recognize you.
No nation takes America under Trump seriously. Most all are watchful because crazy.
America's major adversaries are gleeful. It's allies resigned to decline and incompetence from Trump. And the experts. Those concerned about the future, as in Asia, see America as a bad bet in what is to come.
Want to know how we ended up here? A Times prize hire supposed thinking conservative writes on the premise American
domestic politics of idiotic liberal versus conservative blather is how American foreign policy can be judged
One more American so clueless they pull out a mirror to talk about themselves as what foreign policy is about. Kim's nukes can be launched onto LA or not. For pity's sake. It is not about you Bret. The blast wave won't recognize you.
7
"you have an objection to Jim Mattis at Defense, John Kelly at Homeland Security, Mike Pompeo at C.I.A. and H. R. McMaster as security adviser?"
I have zero objection to Mattis at Defense, but formally that is not a foreign policy position.
I object to Kelly at Homeland Security... sure, he looks good and thoughtful... compared to Flynn.
McMaster has tied himself into knots trying to explain and excuse the damaging incoherence of his boss.
I worry that Pompeo will bring back the Central Interrogation Agency, with waterboarding and worse.
And when you look at the people surrounding Trump who did NOT require Senate confirmation, conservatives have to react with horror, from Bannon on down through Bossert and the Gorkas.
Dan Kravitz
I have zero objection to Mattis at Defense, but formally that is not a foreign policy position.
I object to Kelly at Homeland Security... sure, he looks good and thoughtful... compared to Flynn.
McMaster has tied himself into knots trying to explain and excuse the damaging incoherence of his boss.
I worry that Pompeo will bring back the Central Interrogation Agency, with waterboarding and worse.
And when you look at the people surrounding Trump who did NOT require Senate confirmation, conservatives have to react with horror, from Bannon on down through Bossert and the Gorkas.
Dan Kravitz
5
Let's look at Donald's grade through the lens of Americans who do not want their president to be an ignoramus. Trump should be kicked out of school.
7
Any observant, thinking American, R or D, conservative or liberal, should be able to see that Trump has no foreign policy beyond bumper stickers. That and getting a good APR on the loans he got from Russia. Any Trump apologist who thinks Obama "alienated our allies" is twisting himself into knots to believe that after accepting Trump's utter disdain for anyone who is not him. If by "our allies" you mean Netanyahu's neo-fascist party, then I submit it was about time someone stood up to Israel, a country we put on the map and keep on the map with our endless supplies of military equipment and bottomless foreign aid. Obama even approved the largest aid package in history to Israel despite Bebe's unconcealed disdain for him. That's what a I call a true friend to our allies - overlooking the personal insults of a flawed leader to support his country regardless. We now have to hope our allies are willing to overlook the mealy-mouthed bomb-throwing Trump and extend us a similar courtesy. And if by our allies you mean Russia, then every conservative in this country is a pants-on-fire hypocrite. Oh, what the heck - they are flaming hypocrites anyway.
12
I believe "alienating our allies" is a way of saying "didn't unconditionally accept Israel's continued practice of building settlements on Palestinian land."
2
George Washington had said not to become involved with wars in Europe. Because of the U.S., we defeated Hitler, ended Japan's regime, and opened the gates of China. We are now keeping Russia at bay.
President Trump believes every other nation is taking advantage of the U.S. That's because he sees dollar signs and dollar signs only. Much more is at stake: U.S.'s credibility. In business, reputation is worth more than assets. We are losing much more than money by his current policies.
President Trump believes every other nation is taking advantage of the U.S. That's because he sees dollar signs and dollar signs only. Much more is at stake: U.S.'s credibility. In business, reputation is worth more than assets. We are losing much more than money by his current policies.
7
Assad fears the US? Trump has handed dominance in Syria to Russia and Iran. You think the airfield bombing, after warning Russia first, scared them?
5
Trumpkin? What a revoltingly cute neologism! Although it kinda conjures up Lou Dobbs. Trumpshill seems a more accurate term for a conservative apologist for the president. A trumpoid is an alternative fact that is easily disproved, as disseminated by the recently departed Sean Spicer. Trumpette fits Kelly Ann Conway to a T. Sean Hannity is a Trumpster filled with garbage. A trumpopath is a Trump voter who sold out his country for the empty promise of a job mining coal in Kentucky.
9
The Pax Americana global system is built on American largesse.
We pay disproportionately for the global security architecture. We also pay by having our industrial base hollowed out by “free” trade agreements with China and several other developing countries as well as open borders for cheap labor. In return, we get more control over the global system.
Unfortunately, the cost of the empire now exceeds the benefit, and is unsustainable. Pax Americana can end in a slow, controlled fashion in which our allies share the security costs more fairly, trade agreements with developing countries are adjusted to be more fair, and borders are secured. Or it can end quickly, chaotically, and violently. In either case, our influence is going to wane.
Trump’s foreign policy is essentially built on allies paying more for defense, which is simply a continuation of Obama’s policy, renegotiating trade deals, and controlling the inflow of cheap labor. Of course, our European allies will howl, China and some other trade partners will bawl, and net exporters of illegal aliens will scream.
Nobody like to have their freebies taken away.
We pay disproportionately for the global security architecture. We also pay by having our industrial base hollowed out by “free” trade agreements with China and several other developing countries as well as open borders for cheap labor. In return, we get more control over the global system.
Unfortunately, the cost of the empire now exceeds the benefit, and is unsustainable. Pax Americana can end in a slow, controlled fashion in which our allies share the security costs more fairly, trade agreements with developing countries are adjusted to be more fair, and borders are secured. Or it can end quickly, chaotically, and violently. In either case, our influence is going to wane.
Trump’s foreign policy is essentially built on allies paying more for defense, which is simply a continuation of Obama’s policy, renegotiating trade deals, and controlling the inflow of cheap labor. Of course, our European allies will howl, China and some other trade partners will bawl, and net exporters of illegal aliens will scream.
Nobody like to have their freebies taken away.
3
Nein. No. It's not a matter of "freebies" when it comes to our NATO allies.
All are secure, or none is secure.
Not everything can be measured in dollars and cents.
Read NATO Article 5.
All are secure, or none is secure.
Not everything can be measured in dollars and cents.
Read NATO Article 5.
O.M.G. Good read, Mister Stephens
1
The President has crawled into bed with a Ru$$ian viper who is much smarter and savvier than Trump is.
Exxon Mobil is suing to rescind the fine that THIS ADMINISTRATION levied on it for violating sanctions, giving light to the real reason why Rexxon Tillerson wanted to be Secretary of State, the Ru$$ian Order of Friendship Medal still in his pocket.
That insistent whirring sound is Ronnie Reagan and Bill Buckley spinning in their graves.
HR (Pufnstuf) McMaster is shredding his reputation to provide cover for this.
#derelictionofduty
Exxon Mobil is suing to rescind the fine that THIS ADMINISTRATION levied on it for violating sanctions, giving light to the real reason why Rexxon Tillerson wanted to be Secretary of State, the Ru$$ian Order of Friendship Medal still in his pocket.
That insistent whirring sound is Ronnie Reagan and Bill Buckley spinning in their graves.
HR (Pufnstuf) McMaster is shredding his reputation to provide cover for this.
#derelictionofduty
6
So you're the last best hope of earth, huh? O.M.G.
1
The country in which Trump inspires the greatest fear is the United States. I had first considered writing "his own" as the country, but was unhappy with the way it could be taken: For most people it would mean the country to which they belong; for Trump, it signifies his possession. We have given him the game ball and he is deflating it to suit his tastes. No wonder Tom Brady likes Trump.
6
Conservatives of all stripes (including "serious") put this man in office. The majority of them continue to defend and enable him. Conservatism has a long way to go toward being considered serious again. Grade: Massive Fail.
93
Karloff,
I am a conservative and remember things a little differently. I remember the establishment conservatives throwing all of their money at Jeb Bush. Additionally, there was a large field of candidates. The establishment Rs split the vote leaving Trump with a small core of "conservatives" driving him to a two man race with a very unpopular Ted Cruz.
In the general election, many Rs played a weird game of distancing themselves from Trump (i.e. Priebus, the Bush Family, Cruz, Ryan, and McConnell), but they could not support HRC. Few conservatives showed the courage of George Will. Conservatives only came to Trump after the election and they haven't been too excited to produce any legislation.
In my opinion, Trump's approval ratings among conservatives are misleading. Conservatives approve as long as he nominates conservative justices to the courts and they have few expectations past that. When I meet with other conservatives, we understand Trump does not share our values or ideology. We detest his habit of angry tweeting and we see he does not understand how the federal government works. There is little to like about the man and we don't understand why our fellow conservatives did not like John Kasich.
I tell you this for two reasons. First, don't let this happen to your party. Like us, not every Dem voter is steeped in the finer points of the platform. Second, the Dems have an opportunity to court disaffected Rs and Is.
Best,
H
I am a conservative and remember things a little differently. I remember the establishment conservatives throwing all of their money at Jeb Bush. Additionally, there was a large field of candidates. The establishment Rs split the vote leaving Trump with a small core of "conservatives" driving him to a two man race with a very unpopular Ted Cruz.
In the general election, many Rs played a weird game of distancing themselves from Trump (i.e. Priebus, the Bush Family, Cruz, Ryan, and McConnell), but they could not support HRC. Few conservatives showed the courage of George Will. Conservatives only came to Trump after the election and they haven't been too excited to produce any legislation.
In my opinion, Trump's approval ratings among conservatives are misleading. Conservatives approve as long as he nominates conservative justices to the courts and they have few expectations past that. When I meet with other conservatives, we understand Trump does not share our values or ideology. We detest his habit of angry tweeting and we see he does not understand how the federal government works. There is little to like about the man and we don't understand why our fellow conservatives did not like John Kasich.
I tell you this for two reasons. First, don't let this happen to your party. Like us, not every Dem voter is steeped in the finer points of the platform. Second, the Dems have an opportunity to court disaffected Rs and Is.
Best,
H
The real question:
At what point will conservative media: the wsj,Fox News,start telling their audience the truth. At what point will they focus on the lies, the inconsistencies,and the incompetence? Until that happens,great articles like this are preaching to the choir, in a bubble. Nothing will change.
Mr. Stephens should go on Chtis Wallace's show!
At what point will conservative media: the wsj,Fox News,start telling their audience the truth. At what point will they focus on the lies, the inconsistencies,and the incompetence? Until that happens,great articles like this are preaching to the choir, in a bubble. Nothing will change.
Mr. Stephens should go on Chtis Wallace's show!
1
The irony and truth of Trump is what he has revealed of so-called "conservatives," the GOP and especially Republicans in Congress. They no longer can pretend to have family values, a moral compass, Christian values, love of country, a claim of patriotism. Their apple pie has a fancy crust hiding rotten wormy apples.
Supporting and enabling Trump, attempting to normalize Trump, these are unforgivable sins against decency, law and order, Judaeo-Christian teachings, the Constitution, democracy and the values America has championed. Trump has exposed conservatives and Republicans as Hypocrites (yes, with a capital "H").
Supporting and enabling Trump, attempting to normalize Trump, these are unforgivable sins against decency, law and order, Judaeo-Christian teachings, the Constitution, democracy and the values America has championed. Trump has exposed conservatives and Republicans as Hypocrites (yes, with a capital "H").
8
After President Obama;s "Leading from Behind" nonsense, his flaccid response to the Russians move into Crimea and his reflexive desire to put America on bended knee, it's hard to argue that Trump is doing worse.
16
Chris -
I'm no fan of Obama, or of his foreign policy, but I think you oversimplify. If you look to the administration before Obama, you see where international muscle-flexing got us. It got us into the Middle East, and into Afghanistan, surely two of the stupidest decisions ever made.
Obama, while not satisfying your urge to be tough, really had no good choices in foreign policy. What would you have had him do over the Crimea, for example. I'm not sure you can say he made our standing in the world worse.
Trump has diminished our international standing, significantly. That bothers me. He's susceptible to flattery - for example, on his way into Riyadh from the airport, he passed a five-story-high image of himself projected by the Saudis on the side of a building. He then got rolled by the Saudis at their meeting. That bothers me.
But worst of all is that Trump, the supposed President of the United States, brown-noses Vladimir Putin, the very dangerous leader of a hostile power that tampered with our election.
From where I stand, it's pretty easy to argue that Trump is doing worse. A lot worse.
I'm no fan of Obama, or of his foreign policy, but I think you oversimplify. If you look to the administration before Obama, you see where international muscle-flexing got us. It got us into the Middle East, and into Afghanistan, surely two of the stupidest decisions ever made.
Obama, while not satisfying your urge to be tough, really had no good choices in foreign policy. What would you have had him do over the Crimea, for example. I'm not sure you can say he made our standing in the world worse.
Trump has diminished our international standing, significantly. That bothers me. He's susceptible to flattery - for example, on his way into Riyadh from the airport, he passed a five-story-high image of himself projected by the Saudis on the side of a building. He then got rolled by the Saudis at their meeting. That bothers me.
But worst of all is that Trump, the supposed President of the United States, brown-noses Vladimir Putin, the very dangerous leader of a hostile power that tampered with our election.
From where I stand, it's pretty easy to argue that Trump is doing worse. A lot worse.
3
It isn't.
Instead of leading from behind (= delegating a lot, as that is what creates networks, which you can use to increase diplomatic contacts and then obtain better and faster deals that are in our own interest than through isolationism or through trying to control everything yourself, from bottom to top), Trump is simply not leading at all. That's MUCH worse.
It allows China, Russia and Iran, all enemies of the US, to immediately take a much bigger part of the cake - in Syria, the Pacific Ocean, etc., all places that are vital to our own current and future interests.
As to Obama putting "America on a bended knee": any concrete example of that idea?
Instead of leading from behind (= delegating a lot, as that is what creates networks, which you can use to increase diplomatic contacts and then obtain better and faster deals that are in our own interest than through isolationism or through trying to control everything yourself, from bottom to top), Trump is simply not leading at all. That's MUCH worse.
It allows China, Russia and Iran, all enemies of the US, to immediately take a much bigger part of the cake - in Syria, the Pacific Ocean, etc., all places that are vital to our own current and future interests.
As to Obama putting "America on a bended knee": any concrete example of that idea?
3
Oh, Chris!
Trump is the one on his knees kissing the posterior of Putin and China's President Xi, arguably the top two of America's adversaries.
Trump's exit from TPP also helped China.
Trump's foreign policy, it seems, is not so much about country first but first and foremost about helping himself and his family's financial interests.
Don Jr. had said that, "“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.” and added, “we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
The Chinese approved a bunch of trademarks for the Trumps to curry favor with Trump and it is obviously working.
Trump is the one on his knees kissing the posterior of Putin and China's President Xi, arguably the top two of America's adversaries.
Trump's exit from TPP also helped China.
Trump's foreign policy, it seems, is not so much about country first but first and foremost about helping himself and his family's financial interests.
Don Jr. had said that, "“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.” and added, “we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
The Chinese approved a bunch of trademarks for the Trumps to curry favor with Trump and it is obviously working.
3
Trump's entire life has been based on the premise of a zero sum game. Either you win "bigly" or you are a loser. This attitude requires no veracity, no empathy, no moral compass, no loyalty to others. He has clearly brought this same philosophy with him into this Administration. The world is too complicated and interconnected for this to be a successful long term strategy. I believe he will fail "bigly" and that America will send him packing in 2020 ....if his ignorance and hubris do not get him ousted earlier by other means.
183
And winning means lots of money as proof of winning- no matter how that money is acquired.
1
Brett, Machiavelli did not say it is better for a prince to be feared than loved. He advised that if a prince must choose between the two, he should choose being feared because a prince is loved at the pleasure of another but feared at his own. Trump does not have the choice to be loved. The liberals who hate him will hate him no matter what he does. Since fortune did not give Trump the choice to be loved, he must choose between being prudent or imprudent. He will be hated in either case.
Machiavelli was no conservative. Nor is Trump. Liberals gave Obama a Nobel prize--the liberal A--before he took the test of office and give Trump an F before he has finished the test.
Machiavelli was no conservative. Nor is Trump. Liberals gave Obama a Nobel prize--the liberal A--before he took the test of office and give Trump an F before he has finished the test.
34
Trump has not showed up for the test. Do that, and you fail.
2
It is not Machiavelli that one should study to understand Trump it is Caligula. He was a childish absolute monarch that killed to keep power but eventually annoyed and hurt the Republic with his madness. Trump has shown us hatred. Hatred of Muslims, hatred ofMexicans, hatred of our standards like World Trade, NATO, hatred of our allies etc and Love for ?Russia. Western Liberal Democracy has had its challenges including 2 World Wars and more recently the split-up of Yugoslavia where brother killed brother. If you forget that "transactional" time you may want to return to it so "America First" seems smart. Russia wants to return to that time when "Russia was Great Again". The world has actually moved to a new place. We even had an essay describing the "end of History". So here come Trump, hating all the players in the world except for his hand full rich people which qualifies them as the smart ones. But the leaders of Plato and Machiavelli were supposed to understand their worlds not be dopes. No Trump is not a conservative, he is just a boy with a chip on his shoulder, a lot of street smarts and the opposite of a Renaissance Man. I don't hate him, I don't hate conservatives, I just don't want a poorly educated boy at the helm.
5
" ... give Trump an F before he has finished the test." Yes. This classroom teacher has seized examination papers in the middle of the testing period from students who were blatantly cheating.
5
"If you're a liberal judging Donald Trump's foreign policy... an F is too generous for your taste...."
The President has made himself a laughing stock - and that laugh comes with a wince and a nudge - among his allies. They fear him because they think he is a nutjob, not because they think he is tough. They wince at a man who can sum -up the G20 as being tremendous because 20 countries showed.
He has made himself look complicit with a foreign power that does not seem to share our common interests.
He seems to believe that China will do whatever he demands because he is American and they are only Chinese, so he wins.
He likes the idea of dropping bombs, and thinks we can make people do what we want if we use them. He doesn't think we can use diplomacy in foreign relations or trade.
He still hasn't staffed his State Department, because he can't or he doesn't really know what they do.
If all of that is OK because you never really like Hillary *who understood foreign policy and diplomacy* they you are just an idiot. Trump is bad at his job, and even Hated Hillary would have been better.
The President has made himself a laughing stock - and that laugh comes with a wince and a nudge - among his allies. They fear him because they think he is a nutjob, not because they think he is tough. They wince at a man who can sum -up the G20 as being tremendous because 20 countries showed.
He has made himself look complicit with a foreign power that does not seem to share our common interests.
He seems to believe that China will do whatever he demands because he is American and they are only Chinese, so he wins.
He likes the idea of dropping bombs, and thinks we can make people do what we want if we use them. He doesn't think we can use diplomacy in foreign relations or trade.
He still hasn't staffed his State Department, because he can't or he doesn't really know what they do.
If all of that is OK because you never really like Hillary *who understood foreign policy and diplomacy* they you are just an idiot. Trump is bad at his job, and even Hated Hillary would have been better.
324
His "allies" suffer him because he provides bright brilliant coverage for all of the nasty tricks going on in Congress at the moment. They don't care one wit. He can burn down the country as long as they are free to consolidate their power and amass obscene amounts of money with their corporate overlords.
2
His sitting alone at the G20, scorned, out-of-touch, and disengaged says it all. That we still have citizens who think this imbecile is presidential material is a reflection of how far we have fallen.
2
The Trump Presidency has had the greater impact on foreign policy than on domestic because his actions are less moderated by other institutions. With the exception of the Muslim ban, his whims become foreign policy.
America First has thus effected America Absent. Trump has simply broken stuff to remove America from the whole. Isolationists must cheer, though the economic consequences of his actions are not yet clear, but pragmatists who feel the American interests are best served by being the leader in world affairs will be dismayed.
The Negotiator-in-Chief not only vacated the head of the table, he left the room while the rest of the world keeps talking.
America First has thus effected America Absent. Trump has simply broken stuff to remove America from the whole. Isolationists must cheer, though the economic consequences of his actions are not yet clear, but pragmatists who feel the American interests are best served by being the leader in world affairs will be dismayed.
The Negotiator-in-Chief not only vacated the head of the table, he left the room while the rest of the world keeps talking.
15
A foreign policy suggestion to the 45th US president's aids: Send your boss once a month to Paris. He could further discover the city (There is more to enjoy than the Eiffel Tower) and Macron could spend some time holding his hands: I am pretty sure that the French president would agree to this contribution to keeping the World in peace.
6
I think that Putin asked Donald to stop the CIA program in Syria. If not in the first meeting (the more public one) than in the second, or was it the third?
12
The opposite of American retreat is American involvement, and it was the failure of American involvement that led to American retreat. We seem to specialize in Pyrrhic campaigns that have usually not ended in victory but have been far too expensive. We lost in Vietnam and the other dominos did not fall. We are losing in Afghanistan, our longest war ever. In Iraq, we traded a brutal dictatorship that was the enemy of our enemy Iran, for an Iranian satellite.
If we had allowed Iran to nationalize its oil fields before every country did, the Iranians and not the Saudis would be our Muslim ally in the area. If we had encouraged progressives in Central America, we would not be bedeviled by child refugees from countries that provided law and order only for their elites and left most of their people to the lawlessness of gangs. Nicaragua's leftists are powerful enough to make the local rightists behave, so that we do not get streams of child refugees from there.
One man's retreat is another's consolidation to defensible positions, and such consolidation is eminently conservative.
If we had allowed Iran to nationalize its oil fields before every country did, the Iranians and not the Saudis would be our Muslim ally in the area. If we had encouraged progressives in Central America, we would not be bedeviled by child refugees from countries that provided law and order only for their elites and left most of their people to the lawlessness of gangs. Nicaragua's leftists are powerful enough to make the local rightists behave, so that we do not get streams of child refugees from there.
One man's retreat is another's consolidation to defensible positions, and such consolidation is eminently conservative.
13
Involvement does not mean war or interference in another sovereign country's affairs. Likewise retreat does not mean just pulling troops out. What are we losing in Afghanistan? Face? The Afghans are the losers. Our military involvement never has taken into account the effect of blowback and yet blowback has continually come back to bite us. And a blowhard like Trump will not prevent more blowback from his foreign "policy."
It is a testament to the human condition – evolutionary path dependence or original sin of you prefer – that we have elected a person wholly unprepared by knowledge, temperament and experience to be our president on the strength of bombast and attractively packaged snake oil that fuels partisan and class resentments. The nation is now undergoing a stress test of our system of checks and balances. We are learning to our dismay that we are more dependent on traditional mores than black letter law to withstand a narcissistic naïf’s authoritarian inclinations. The courts and the media seem to be doing a passable job. The legislature not so much, but there is still time for congressmen and senators of character and courage to get us over the ‘hump’.
69
This one should have been a Times Pick. Bang on.
2
Apparently, RESPECT is not in the conservative vocabulary. Seriously, the article indicates how low the Times has set the bar for op-ed contributors. Assad respects what Putin and Iran can do for him; he probably fears the withdrawal of their support. Does he care about Trump? Maybe Stephens knows, but Assad is telling.
Trump has turned a blind eye to the depredations of the Saudis, using American provide military equipment, against Yemeni civilians. Is this a foreign policy triumph? Well, they did massage his ego with a big red carpet, so he agreed to let them lead what is in effect act act of aggression against Qatar, the home of the largest US military base in the Middle East and the forward base of the US Central Command. Where will the troops go if the Qataris kick them out?
OK, Trump has improved - from a grade of zero to something that can be counted on the fingers of one hand. A cause for conservative celebration. He has alienated NATO, been ignored by North Korea, and treated as a fool by China (a few trademarks for Ivanka and US trade policy is in hiding). A few private moments with Putin, paid for by the taxpayer and conducted with no public record. But why should there be a record of a private transaction?
There is no foreign policy philosophy, so there is no philosophical flaw, but there are glaring psychological and ethical flaws. Show ME the money may well be the guiding approach to Trump's foreign policies.
Take the con out of conservatism.
Trump has turned a blind eye to the depredations of the Saudis, using American provide military equipment, against Yemeni civilians. Is this a foreign policy triumph? Well, they did massage his ego with a big red carpet, so he agreed to let them lead what is in effect act act of aggression against Qatar, the home of the largest US military base in the Middle East and the forward base of the US Central Command. Where will the troops go if the Qataris kick them out?
OK, Trump has improved - from a grade of zero to something that can be counted on the fingers of one hand. A cause for conservative celebration. He has alienated NATO, been ignored by North Korea, and treated as a fool by China (a few trademarks for Ivanka and US trade policy is in hiding). A few private moments with Putin, paid for by the taxpayer and conducted with no public record. But why should there be a record of a private transaction?
There is no foreign policy philosophy, so there is no philosophical flaw, but there are glaring psychological and ethical flaws. Show ME the money may well be the guiding approach to Trump's foreign policies.
Take the con out of conservatism.
13
Under this president my country has become an international laughing stock. Chaos isn't an effective governing strategy. Our allies recognize that our president is unhinged and they are taking steps to protect themselves while distancing themselves so they don't get caught up in a disaster of our making.
I used to think that conservatives were the responsible grownups in the room but their continued support for Trump makes me wonder how we can be looking at the same president and coming up with such differing views on the job he's doing. Sadly I think that the skewed information they get from Fox news has a lot to do with their ongoing support. At some point his incompetence will bleed through the propaganda but until then OMG indeed.
I used to think that conservatives were the responsible grownups in the room but their continued support for Trump makes me wonder how we can be looking at the same president and coming up with such differing views on the job he's doing. Sadly I think that the skewed information they get from Fox news has a lot to do with their ongoing support. At some point his incompetence will bleed through the propaganda but until then OMG indeed.
54
Ami- I just had this discussion with my husband and our daughter has observed the same thing. It's like we live in two totally different realities. I have a friend who is a trump supporter who questions where I've heard or read of the latest trump disaster. I tell her it's literally everywhere-AOL news, Yahoo news, Google news. How do they access their email without seeing these news feeds? Do they willfully turn a blind eye to any headline that disparages their hero trump? How are they so blatantly ignorant to what is going on?
2
Negative infinity F for Trump's foreign policy.
Negative infinity F for his Presidency.
An unmitigated danger and disaster in every possible way.
And that's being kind to Trump.
Negative infinity F for his Presidency.
An unmitigated danger and disaster in every possible way.
And that's being kind to Trump.
17
How exactly is Trump feared if the world knows that he is Putin's puppet? The very legitimate fear is that Trump is systematically and deliberately giving up American leadership of the free world, giving up scientific and global leadership on essential issues like a coordinated global response to man-made climate change (like the US led the world in multinational UN effort to tackle the issue of ozone layer depletion). Trump would be a pure laughingstock, but is terrifying the world by unilaterally surrendering American global leadership.
17
"It’s always possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason". A fortunate possibility as it is the only way the dog-eat-dog winner-take-all profit-before-all-else business model much endorsed by Trump and Ryan/McConnell will ever do good.
8
"The Clinton team would have consisted of Brookings Institution types trying to extend the Obama administration’s legacy of American retreat — of appeasing adversaries, alienating allies, and turning us into a country whose enemies didn’t fear us and whose friends didn’t trust us."
Hillary Clinton and her team would have alienated allies? Wow, Just WOW. In his first phone call with the Prime Minster of Australia that lasted all of 20 minutes, Trump managed to insult and alienate an ancestral ally of the United States. Eric Trump did a fantastic job of alienating Great Britain with tweets where he took statements from the May of London out of context. The list goes on and on. As for "appeasing adversaries", Trump has actively conspired with a hostile foreign nation, one that has nuclear weapons aimed at us. America's standing in the world took hundreds of years and unbearable loss of life to achieve. Trump has managed to destroy it in six shameful, agonizing months.
Hillary Clinton and her team would have alienated allies? Wow, Just WOW. In his first phone call with the Prime Minster of Australia that lasted all of 20 minutes, Trump managed to insult and alienate an ancestral ally of the United States. Eric Trump did a fantastic job of alienating Great Britain with tweets where he took statements from the May of London out of context. The list goes on and on. As for "appeasing adversaries", Trump has actively conspired with a hostile foreign nation, one that has nuclear weapons aimed at us. America's standing in the world took hundreds of years and unbearable loss of life to achieve. Trump has managed to destroy it in six shameful, agonizing months.
317
Conservatives are thrilled that Trump has surrendered American sovereignty to Vladimir Putin. They finally have the authoritarian leader that they have always wanted. And they no longer have to fret about that pesky Constitution.
14
I have yet to see Russian troops marching down Pennsylvania Avenue.
1
Bret, OMG indeed. The "legacy of American retreat"? Obama tried to balance the forces of military power and diplomacy to avoid falling in to every shiny new global trap while maintaining American global dominance. Aside from the obvious diplomatic conundrums - tell me again why we alienate our allies and fawn over our adversaries? - Trump's bumbling in Syria has ceded victory to Putin with his warm water port. And tell me again why the US jumps in to global conflicts, gives support to some group we can't define, and then abandons them when the enthusiasm for the ill conceived mission falters? Picking sides in the Middle East has had results... he pushed Qatar - where we have a base - closer to Iran, Turkey, and, yes, Putin again. Come to think of it...maybe that's the quid pro quo for the election and all that "money pouring in from Russia". All we need now is for Trump to give back the compounds and lift the Magnitsky sanctions allowing Putin access to his laundered billions. You would almost think there was a strategy...OMG indeed.
23
Donald Trump has no Foreign Policy, and you don't have to be a Liberal to know that.
Anyone looking at his behaviour since assuming office, knows this is a man out of his depths -- and by hitching his star to Steve Bannon's isolationist agenda, he has set this country on a trajectory that is taking it further and further out of the loop into irrelevance.
Aside from a startling lack of knowledge about World History, this administration's greatest flaw lies in its lack of tact and diplomacy.
Sometimes you don't need a stick, when a carrot will do.
In the space of just six short months, this president has managed to insult about every ally and neighbor of the United States -- and his dalliance with Vladimir Putin is extremely worrying.
Those who applaud his brusque manner with our fellow NATO members, probably know as much about the organization as he does. Not much.
Otherwise they'd know the worth of having an Article 5, and not just view the alliance in terms of dollars and cents --when it's about common sense as well.
Foreign Policy isn't something that should be viewed as being solely conservative or liberal -- it should be viewed as something of national interest.
And not only in the best interest of this nation...but ultimately, the world.
Anyone looking at his behaviour since assuming office, knows this is a man out of his depths -- and by hitching his star to Steve Bannon's isolationist agenda, he has set this country on a trajectory that is taking it further and further out of the loop into irrelevance.
Aside from a startling lack of knowledge about World History, this administration's greatest flaw lies in its lack of tact and diplomacy.
Sometimes you don't need a stick, when a carrot will do.
In the space of just six short months, this president has managed to insult about every ally and neighbor of the United States -- and his dalliance with Vladimir Putin is extremely worrying.
Those who applaud his brusque manner with our fellow NATO members, probably know as much about the organization as he does. Not much.
Otherwise they'd know the worth of having an Article 5, and not just view the alliance in terms of dollars and cents --when it's about common sense as well.
Foreign Policy isn't something that should be viewed as being solely conservative or liberal -- it should be viewed as something of national interest.
And not only in the best interest of this nation...but ultimately, the world.
32
When President Trump represents the U.S. abroad, I get this strange, almost indescribable feeling. Fortunately, the German's have a word for almost every emotional response. I recently learned that what I feel is "Fremdscham": vicarious embarrassment due to the speech, bearing and actions of the shameless and/or unaware.
16
In addition to Trump's other appointees, we have Mr. Tillerson, who's shady history with Russia preceded him to the White House. But perhaps the biggest problems we face are Trump's repeated displays of ignorance and arrogance. World leaders generally have fairly broad interests and knowledge; Trump has neither. Grabby handshakes and one-sided tugging contests are no substitute for earned respect. The wannabe tough, dumb guy, becomes an unwitting tool for others, especially when he has no comprehension of the commonweal.
His fawning adulation for Putin dispels any notion he's as tough as he would like to be, and his seizing of every opportunity to bully and belittle speaks of deep insecurities easily exploited. O.M.G indeed.
His fawning adulation for Putin dispels any notion he's as tough as he would like to be, and his seizing of every opportunity to bully and belittle speaks of deep insecurities easily exploited. O.M.G indeed.
19
Stephens seems confused. In terms of its foreign policy over the last 25 years or more the US has engendered much more "fear" than "love". Polls of foreign countries repeatedly place the US at the top of lists of greatest threats to world peace. For decades now it has like some grotesquely enlarged toddler stumbled across the world overturning tables, carelessly breaking nations like toys, all in greedy pursuit of ill thought out "national interests" -nothing more. No "last best hope of earth" or "shining hill" that. All this well before Trump's emergence. It's Orwellian in the extreme to shape the US's recent "muscular" ("thick headed"?) foreign policy forays around the world as driven by some confused yet oft thwarted desire to do good. But the "do good" sub text of US foreign policy has always really been the message for domestic consumption. Foreigners in Honduras, Iraq and Libya and women in Saudia Arabia know better. It's a story spun for the saps watching the US treasury and their collective futures bled dry by a Military Industrial Complex that now owns both parties. No we won't be seeing any of that lily-livered "isolationism" any time soon. You can be assured the rest of the world is overjoyed. As far as understanding the true motives and impact of US foreign policy the US public like Shakespeare's destructive and aging King Lear "hath never but slenderly known" themselves. Meanwhile, in the boardrooms of the merchants of death its "Trebles all round!".
5
Please Mr. Stephens, do not pretend to speak on behalf of all Liberals. You aren't. In fact many Liberals consider you and like minded people as fake Liberals, puppets of the neocons and Wall Street who soothe their conscience with making noise about toilet rights for transgenders (without ever having met one).
Obama's regime change campaign was a disaster. His Syria and Russia policies were full of internal contradictions.
Both true Conservatives and true Liberals believe in not interfering in the life of other people - unless you have very urgent reasons. In that light some retreat of the US is welcome. It may at times be awkward to see Trump stumbling. But at the same time it gives countries and factions the opportunity to sort things out themselves - instead of ignoring each other while paying lobbyists in Washington.
Finally, there is nothing Conservative in claiming that you are the "last best hope of earth".
Obama's regime change campaign was a disaster. His Syria and Russia policies were full of internal contradictions.
Both true Conservatives and true Liberals believe in not interfering in the life of other people - unless you have very urgent reasons. In that light some retreat of the US is welcome. It may at times be awkward to see Trump stumbling. But at the same time it gives countries and factions the opportunity to sort things out themselves - instead of ignoring each other while paying lobbyists in Washington.
Finally, there is nothing Conservative in claiming that you are the "last best hope of earth".
1
This is so wrong, it is hard to know where to begin.
For starters, Trump does not have a foreign policy. He is all over the place. There is no consistency with the kinds of leaders to whom he ingratiates himself, or grates on, other than the conspicuous fondness for Putin.
There is no "America first" policy, there is a "me first" attitude, captured best when Trump pushed his way to the front of a camera lens.
There is no high-mindedness about those to whom Trump is petty. Rejected handshakes, passive-aggressive tweets, reneging on a global climate accord, embarassing the Pope - all snubs from a low character.
There is no symmetry with Trump's sense of leadership. He goes to Saudi Arabia, among both the world's worst human rights abusers and biggest sources of terrorists, and announce that he is not there to lecture them. Then he stands with NATO members and scolds them for allegedly being tightwads.
Trump's foreign debacles get him an "F", but you, Mr. Stephens, should get an "A" - if you write this as farce.
For starters, Trump does not have a foreign policy. He is all over the place. There is no consistency with the kinds of leaders to whom he ingratiates himself, or grates on, other than the conspicuous fondness for Putin.
There is no "America first" policy, there is a "me first" attitude, captured best when Trump pushed his way to the front of a camera lens.
There is no high-mindedness about those to whom Trump is petty. Rejected handshakes, passive-aggressive tweets, reneging on a global climate accord, embarassing the Pope - all snubs from a low character.
There is no symmetry with Trump's sense of leadership. He goes to Saudi Arabia, among both the world's worst human rights abusers and biggest sources of terrorists, and announce that he is not there to lecture them. Then he stands with NATO members and scolds them for allegedly being tightwads.
Trump's foreign debacles get him an "F", but you, Mr. Stephens, should get an "A" - if you write this as farce.
15
Picking out just one comment you make, i must admit I'm not sure where the idea took root that H.R. McMaster was a good or even great choice for National Security Advisor. For sure, compared to Flynn he is a significant step up, but a garden gnome would be better than Flynn (one of those enigmatic looking ones).
Looking at the whole of the conduct of foreign policy, it is hard to discern an underlying principle. Unless it is a tendency to seek out confrontation? If that is the case, you should be very aware of what you wish for. I am very curious how many of the dummies who applaud Trump's bluster are actually willing to forego their comforts, let alone lay down their lives, for his braggadocio...
I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, but this is not going to end well.
Looking at the whole of the conduct of foreign policy, it is hard to discern an underlying principle. Unless it is a tendency to seek out confrontation? If that is the case, you should be very aware of what you wish for. I am very curious how many of the dummies who applaud Trump's bluster are actually willing to forego their comforts, let alone lay down their lives, for his braggadocio...
I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, but this is not going to end well.
93
Truth is, he has no policy. He just makes stuff up. Oh, and if Obama was for something, he's against it.
25
"I'm flexible. . . very flexible foreign policy. . . take pride in my flexibility. My greatest strength. . . a great inspiration to American supporters and my fans throughout the world. I'm unpredictable . . . I feed on the hazy. I'm experienced in these matters. More experienced than anyone--than the generals. . . . The diplomats. You name it.
"An unpredictable world I can deal with. Consistency? Overrated. Credibility? Overrated. Push emotional buttons. Throw the world a 180 degree curve ball. Focus their attention. Get great press. Adulation even.
"Some say I have no unified foreign policy . . . flexibility--greatest policy ever. Never telegraph your response. Keep the world hanging. People love it. A bit of spice. A bit of suspense.
"And they love me. All those people in the streets at the G-19? Who was that for? Reminds me . . . . Did you see that yuuugist crowd ever at my inauguration? National Mall, wall to wall people. And all those thousands who climbed trees? Just to get a glimpse--a glimpse! And my election by acclamation? What a roar of approval! Unprecedented!
"Be flexible. Tell the foreign leaders whatever you want 'em to hear . . . Except Putin, gotta’ be straight with Vlad. Otherwise it's repeat, delete, repeat. People get the message, unget it, get it again. Sells most of the people most of the time. Keep 'em off balance. The key to success. In real estate development! In politics! In diplomacy! Flexibility!
"Me and my smart brain, we got it down!"
"An unpredictable world I can deal with. Consistency? Overrated. Credibility? Overrated. Push emotional buttons. Throw the world a 180 degree curve ball. Focus their attention. Get great press. Adulation even.
"Some say I have no unified foreign policy . . . flexibility--greatest policy ever. Never telegraph your response. Keep the world hanging. People love it. A bit of spice. A bit of suspense.
"And they love me. All those people in the streets at the G-19? Who was that for? Reminds me . . . . Did you see that yuuugist crowd ever at my inauguration? National Mall, wall to wall people. And all those thousands who climbed trees? Just to get a glimpse--a glimpse! And my election by acclamation? What a roar of approval! Unprecedented!
"Be flexible. Tell the foreign leaders whatever you want 'em to hear . . . Except Putin, gotta’ be straight with Vlad. Otherwise it's repeat, delete, repeat. People get the message, unget it, get it again. Sells most of the people most of the time. Keep 'em off balance. The key to success. In real estate development! In politics! In diplomacy! Flexibility!
"Me and my smart brain, we got it down!"
10
The Conservatives' report card on their own Freudian Fascist. Hmmm.
Maybe the context of the thesis should be adjusted to reflect The Trumpkin as the report card of the "conservative" movement here in 2017.
Better context, and less prone to alternative facts.
Maybe the context of the thesis should be adjusted to reflect The Trumpkin as the report card of the "conservative" movement here in 2017.
Better context, and less prone to alternative facts.
4
Bwahahahaha - what a bunch of piffle !
Conservative apologists can take this pig laughably known as " djt's foreign policy ", dress it in Versace, Dior, Valentino, or Vera Wang, immerse it in Chanel, and cover it with Maybelline, Estee Lauder or Avon, and adorn it with Bulgari, Tiffany, or Cartier, and call it Monique, but in the end, it's still a porker - there is no discernible coherent foreign policy because POTUS is unhinged.
And if we can't see it ourselves, the Canadians (yep, CANADA !):
http://www.businessinsider.com/canada-chrystia-freeland-trump-2017-6
and Germany:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/05/28/thanks-to-...
point it out - which Stephens busily tries here to gussy up in Valentino and Chanel.
The current state of affairs - after just 1/2 year with djt - is no more satisfactory than if Hillary had ascended to the White House, and Canada and Germany had since made similar comments because Hillary had acted as djt has on the international stage.
IF that were the case, what would Conservatives then be saying ?
As a matter of fact, going forward, Conservatives should just use the standard of "Would this have been O.K. by us if Hillary were doing it ?" before they try to normalize any of the numerous travesties that are the essence of their rolling dumpster fire, djt.
Conservative apologists can take this pig laughably known as " djt's foreign policy ", dress it in Versace, Dior, Valentino, or Vera Wang, immerse it in Chanel, and cover it with Maybelline, Estee Lauder or Avon, and adorn it with Bulgari, Tiffany, or Cartier, and call it Monique, but in the end, it's still a porker - there is no discernible coherent foreign policy because POTUS is unhinged.
And if we can't see it ourselves, the Canadians (yep, CANADA !):
http://www.businessinsider.com/canada-chrystia-freeland-trump-2017-6
and Germany:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/05/28/thanks-to-...
point it out - which Stephens busily tries here to gussy up in Valentino and Chanel.
The current state of affairs - after just 1/2 year with djt - is no more satisfactory than if Hillary had ascended to the White House, and Canada and Germany had since made similar comments because Hillary had acted as djt has on the international stage.
IF that were the case, what would Conservatives then be saying ?
As a matter of fact, going forward, Conservatives should just use the standard of "Would this have been O.K. by us if Hillary were doing it ?" before they try to normalize any of the numerous travesties that are the essence of their rolling dumpster fire, djt.
86
Trump's foreign policy hardly puts "America First." Essentially, it puts "America Alone." Examples: withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and the Pacific trade agreement.
Yet, one might include "side-by-side" with Putin's Russia. Example: withdrawing support for the Syrian rebels.
Yet, one might include "side-by-side" with Putin's Russia. Example: withdrawing support for the Syrian rebels.
26
Full disclosure should have required Brett Stephens to identify that the Institute for Science and International Security report that he referenced alleging Iranian non compliance with the JCPOA, was authored by David Albright, a well known opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, and critic of president Barack Obama.
81
A column of some alt-facts: "The Clinton team would have consisted of … appeasing adversaries, alienating allies, and turning us into a country whose enemies didn’t fear us…."
In all 3 debates, Secretary Clinton promised regime change in Syria starting on Day 1. In the third, she realised that regime change in Syria would also require regime change in Russia, and she said she was prepared for that.
In 1950, the MAD club had just two members. By 1960, maybe 2½ ("China got the bomb, but have no fears, They can't wipe us out for at least five years.--Tom Lehrer).
Today? Kim is desperately trying to convince the US that the DPRK is in the MAD club. Putin is certain that Russia is still in the MAD club.
But Secretary Clinton's experts all agree, there is no more MAD. For Russia, there's RAD, for the DPRK, there's KAD, for China, there's CAD. Regime change in Russia would be easier than Libya, since Secretary Clinton has learned how to engineer regime change perfectly.
Some of us were glad we wouldn't find out if she and her advisers were right. Until Trump found his inner Hillary, and thinks he can easily force regime change in North Korea and Syria without any danger to the US.
In all 3 debates, Secretary Clinton promised regime change in Syria starting on Day 1. In the third, she realised that regime change in Syria would also require regime change in Russia, and she said she was prepared for that.
In 1950, the MAD club had just two members. By 1960, maybe 2½ ("China got the bomb, but have no fears, They can't wipe us out for at least five years.--Tom Lehrer).
Today? Kim is desperately trying to convince the US that the DPRK is in the MAD club. Putin is certain that Russia is still in the MAD club.
But Secretary Clinton's experts all agree, there is no more MAD. For Russia, there's RAD, for the DPRK, there's KAD, for China, there's CAD. Regime change in Russia would be easier than Libya, since Secretary Clinton has learned how to engineer regime change perfectly.
Some of us were glad we wouldn't find out if she and her advisers were right. Until Trump found his inner Hillary, and thinks he can easily force regime change in North Korea and Syria without any danger to the US.
4
Is it cute, sly--or just plain wicked--that the positions described are cited without facts. It remains us we live in a Mother Goose era of foreign policy; illusion, war, and trade are indistinguishable. A bombing raid is preceded by a hotline call, doesn't inflict damage on aircraft or runaways, but is heralded in headlines as planes fly their daily sorties to attack civilians!
This week's policy change ends the CIA's program to train and provide arms and for anti-Assad rebels in Syria—officials say Trump ended the program to “work with” Russia; ending the CIA operation (weakening the Syrian rebel opposition) was a long term Putin objective.
Foreign policy has long reach: from war and terrorism, to economic partnerships and trade, but also health. A Trump executive order banned funding for international health organizations offering abortion services—this rule will deeply cut HIV drug funding in Africa, close women's health clinics internationally and put the poorest women and children in the world at greater health risk. “A fatal legacy” one official described it.
On day one, Trump walked away from the first 11 country trans-Pacific trade agreement covering 40% of global GDP, leaving a clear field for China; opting out of a region which will see middle class growth double in a decade (globally to 5 billion people). Nothing has replaced it. Exiting climate control means leading from the rear on new green energy jobs.
Views change when facts are added!
This week's policy change ends the CIA's program to train and provide arms and for anti-Assad rebels in Syria—officials say Trump ended the program to “work with” Russia; ending the CIA operation (weakening the Syrian rebel opposition) was a long term Putin objective.
Foreign policy has long reach: from war and terrorism, to economic partnerships and trade, but also health. A Trump executive order banned funding for international health organizations offering abortion services—this rule will deeply cut HIV drug funding in Africa, close women's health clinics internationally and put the poorest women and children in the world at greater health risk. “A fatal legacy” one official described it.
On day one, Trump walked away from the first 11 country trans-Pacific trade agreement covering 40% of global GDP, leaving a clear field for China; opting out of a region which will see middle class growth double in a decade (globally to 5 billion people). Nothing has replaced it. Exiting climate control means leading from the rear on new green energy jobs.
Views change when facts are added!
38
16 years of war that left the Middle East worst than it was is enough. Obama's intervention in Libya and Syria was unbelievably bad. No reason at all. It supposedly was for human rights reasons, but of course we were in alliance with Saudi Arabia which was worse. And what are the results for human rights in Mosul and for Syrian refugees? The refugees fueled the rise of fascism in the Europe. That was good?
We encouraged the Saudis and Qatar to arm rebels when any fool knew that the ones willing to fight were those ISIS. Is it bad to travel there and force them to end support for terrorism and help regime change in Saudi Arabia?
This is not the world of Truman et al. Truman became President 70 years ago. 70 years. It is a different world. Putin is essentially a corrupt status quo dictator. Obama's person on Russia helped organize the overthrow of the head of the elected government in Ukraine because he was going to be re-elected and keep Ukraine out of EU. And she did it with an F you to our ally Merkel.
How would we react to Russia doing that in Canada?. Is it bad to form an alliance with Merkel and Macron to end the war in Eastern Ukraine and force our utterly corrupt Ukrainian puppet to give the native Russian speaker majority there the rights of Quebec. That is almost surely what just happened.
Obama was reducto ad absurdium. His foreign policy was the worst of his expansion of government power. A conservative should be against that.
We encouraged the Saudis and Qatar to arm rebels when any fool knew that the ones willing to fight were those ISIS. Is it bad to travel there and force them to end support for terrorism and help regime change in Saudi Arabia?
This is not the world of Truman et al. Truman became President 70 years ago. 70 years. It is a different world. Putin is essentially a corrupt status quo dictator. Obama's person on Russia helped organize the overthrow of the head of the elected government in Ukraine because he was going to be re-elected and keep Ukraine out of EU. And she did it with an F you to our ally Merkel.
How would we react to Russia doing that in Canada?. Is it bad to form an alliance with Merkel and Macron to end the war in Eastern Ukraine and force our utterly corrupt Ukrainian puppet to give the native Russian speaker majority there the rights of Quebec. That is almost surely what just happened.
Obama was reducto ad absurdium. His foreign policy was the worst of his expansion of government power. A conservative should be against that.
Just how long are you guys going to play that "But Obama!" card?
President Obama is windsurfing with his family and writing a book, while our current President's family and administration face FBI and Senate investigations and likely indictments.
At some point you may have to consider actually holding our Chief Executive accountable for something.
President Obama is windsurfing with his family and writing a book, while our current President's family and administration face FBI and Senate investigations and likely indictments.
At some point you may have to consider actually holding our Chief Executive accountable for something.
3
“The world is not a ‘global community’ but an arena where nations, nongovernmental actors and businesses engage and compete for advantage,” McMaster and Gary Cohn,
Actually, the world is both a community and an arena where various actors compete for advantage. That is an ecological truth. Modern American foreign policy has blended 'idealism' and 'realism' to reflect and balance both truths.
Trump does not seem to have a foreign policy worthy of the name. He has jettisoned the 'idealistic' prong of American policy (which has proven to have great effect, even if not as great as some 'idealists' would like to believe). Trump's 'realism' is randomly continuing some Obama policies and randomly dropping others.
Actually, the world is both a community and an arena where various actors compete for advantage. That is an ecological truth. Modern American foreign policy has blended 'idealism' and 'realism' to reflect and balance both truths.
Trump does not seem to have a foreign policy worthy of the name. He has jettisoned the 'idealistic' prong of American policy (which has proven to have great effect, even if not as great as some 'idealists' would like to believe). Trump's 'realism' is randomly continuing some Obama policies and randomly dropping others.
4
Brute force, strident nationalism, wearing hatred towards foreigners or other faiths as a badge of honor, and contempt for human rights has been tried as a foreign policy before by the Germans. The German's even accommodated with Stalin, Putin's predecessor.
It did not work out well for the Germans then, and if we do not prevent it now, it will be catastrophic for us, and for the rest of the world as well.
It did not work out well for the Germans then, and if we do not prevent it now, it will be catastrophic for us, and for the rest of the world as well.
21
Bret, we are many, you included, who believe that much good can result from civil discussion. Therefore I want to celebrate the discussion going on between Susan Anderson and Mark Thomason, both of whom I have the honor of being able to maintain Email contact with.
They are discussing a problem I have encountered, several times in the extreme, a problem resulting from acceptance by either a live reviewer or an algorithm of a truly extreme, often racist, often demeaning reply to a notably civil comment. Mark as a Verified was quickly able to communicate to Susan that an appalling attack on her had been allowed in as a reply to Mark. And Susan, also as a Verified, was instantly able to express her appreciation and to offer observations about dealing with trolls.
Once in awhile, perhaps thanks to the new system, I, a non-verified, have been able to converse with repliers - most enjoyable. But this new system, if it is the villain, cannot allow the kind of replies Mark refers to.
And in closing, to Bret and others, we are many, I believe, who would once in a while like you and others to be given the chance to converse with us. Perhaps this will be possible at the new forum that Times community staff are working on.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
They are discussing a problem I have encountered, several times in the extreme, a problem resulting from acceptance by either a live reviewer or an algorithm of a truly extreme, often racist, often demeaning reply to a notably civil comment. Mark as a Verified was quickly able to communicate to Susan that an appalling attack on her had been allowed in as a reply to Mark. And Susan, also as a Verified, was instantly able to express her appreciation and to offer observations about dealing with trolls.
Once in awhile, perhaps thanks to the new system, I, a non-verified, have been able to converse with repliers - most enjoyable. But this new system, if it is the villain, cannot allow the kind of replies Mark refers to.
And in closing, to Bret and others, we are many, I believe, who would once in a while like you and others to be given the chance to converse with us. Perhaps this will be possible at the new forum that Times community staff are working on.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
4
@ myself but also @ Susan Anderson and Mark Thomason, at least indirectly.
This comment was accepted instantly, so quickly I had not even completed copying the submission into a Word file. Since this comment concerns discussion among the comment community - live - I admit to loving this aspect of the new system.
This comment was accepted instantly, so quickly I had not even completed copying the submission into a Word file. Since this comment concerns discussion among the comment community - live - I admit to loving this aspect of the new system.
4
Trump's words mean next to nothing at home or abroad. The main thing he had to say about his foreign policy approach as a candidate is that he intended to be secretive and unpredictable. Unfortunately, those were the rare words of truth that mark his behavior as president.
The result is a loss of trust and a loss of the power and leadership that go with it. Out of necessity historic allies (yes, they exist) are discounting partnerships with the U.S., which is increasingly isolated. The risk of that trend is enhanced by the inexperience and infighting taking place in understaffed departments that are critical to foreign policy.
If ever there was a time the U.S. could benefit from trusting partners and the respect of competitors who take American resolve seriously, it is now. Unfortunately, when the commander in chief is not planning to pardon the criminals in his cabinet or tweeting insults about the news media or Hillary Clinton, he accomplishes little on the world stage that can be viewed as strategic, let alone sensible. The lack of planning and direction is profound.
I loathed the notion of Hillary Clinton in the White House, especially her persistent hawkish tendencies. However, she did have some capacity to build and maintain relationships, even with adversaries, and she was predictable, which is important when representing a superpower. Those qualities alone put her miles ahead of Trump, who seems unable to learn or grow into the job.
The result is a loss of trust and a loss of the power and leadership that go with it. Out of necessity historic allies (yes, they exist) are discounting partnerships with the U.S., which is increasingly isolated. The risk of that trend is enhanced by the inexperience and infighting taking place in understaffed departments that are critical to foreign policy.
If ever there was a time the U.S. could benefit from trusting partners and the respect of competitors who take American resolve seriously, it is now. Unfortunately, when the commander in chief is not planning to pardon the criminals in his cabinet or tweeting insults about the news media or Hillary Clinton, he accomplishes little on the world stage that can be viewed as strategic, let alone sensible. The lack of planning and direction is profound.
I loathed the notion of Hillary Clinton in the White House, especially her persistent hawkish tendencies. However, she did have some capacity to build and maintain relationships, even with adversaries, and she was predictable, which is important when representing a superpower. Those qualities alone put her miles ahead of Trump, who seems unable to learn or grow into the job.
25
The great advantage for saying you are secretive and unpredictable, and that these are good things, is that this is perfect cover for being uninformed, impulsive and inconsistent.
6
Bret, I am not sure I understand exactly your point in referring us to the ISIS in this paragraph: "Conservatives must also wonder what happened to the “conservative” foreign policy they were promised in the campaign. The administration certified this month that Iran was complying with the 2015 nuclear deal; according to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), it isn’t fully."
What I am sure I understand is that while Airbus and suppliers have a $19,000,000,000 sale of jet aircraft to Iran Trump and Company would prefer that the corresponding Boeing figure would be $0.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
What I am sure I understand is that while Airbus and suppliers have a $19,000,000,000 sale of jet aircraft to Iran Trump and Company would prefer that the corresponding Boeing figure would be $0.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
9
There must be two kinds of conservatives. Those that believe the neo classical economic theories, and those that tRump appeals to. the second kind are who believe the long discredited beliefs of America first will benefit them.
They are his base, the ones who give him an approval rating, and believe he is doing a good job. they believe they would be better off if we did not support NATO, or help improve lives in Africa. They believe stopping those Fords from being built in Mexico will bring them work. They believe the Bangladeshis stole their jobs. They want a wall on the border, ignoring that walls work both ways.
Yes these followers are the one we see attacking protesters at his rallies. They believe the U.S. needs to exercise its super power status and has a right to bully other weaker countries, they want us to be tough, just like the school yard bully that discovers too late his victims have organized and joined to take him on. The Europeans and China have done just that with their own TPP.
These "conservatives" have fallen prey to the Fox ideology. their understanding of international relations is minimal, and finance is limited to their zero balance check book. They view economics like family finances. They see all this foreign involvement as a debt like their credit card debt.
Even the so called educated ones, with a BA have a limited understanding of how international relations transpire. some complaint are valid, to be continued, next page please.
They are his base, the ones who give him an approval rating, and believe he is doing a good job. they believe they would be better off if we did not support NATO, or help improve lives in Africa. They believe stopping those Fords from being built in Mexico will bring them work. They believe the Bangladeshis stole their jobs. They want a wall on the border, ignoring that walls work both ways.
Yes these followers are the one we see attacking protesters at his rallies. They believe the U.S. needs to exercise its super power status and has a right to bully other weaker countries, they want us to be tough, just like the school yard bully that discovers too late his victims have organized and joined to take him on. The Europeans and China have done just that with their own TPP.
These "conservatives" have fallen prey to the Fox ideology. their understanding of international relations is minimal, and finance is limited to their zero balance check book. They view economics like family finances. They see all this foreign involvement as a debt like their credit card debt.
Even the so called educated ones, with a BA have a limited understanding of how international relations transpire. some complaint are valid, to be continued, next page please.
60
To continue, remember when Walmart was just expanding. How those in the lower wage brackets flocked to it for the bargains. I was a big success story, and followed with Target and other low cost stores. those customers did not look ahead,or even back. GM was building unreliable cars, Honda and Nissan suddenly became very popular.
That clothing they bought made in Bangladesh was putting the American mills out of work. It is the unavoidable law of economics, wages revert to the mean. People were buying German cars and paying the tax, it was cheaper. Now automation is replacing even more jobs. Unless ou seal off the country, economies will equalize. the Mexicans build cars they become better off and buy our products. One bad effect is where foreign worker can be hired to to replace American workers, this is exploitation, yet this administration wants to give them tax breaks.
Do something about wage inequality, and inheritance taxes, and that money may create more enterprises. The very rich are becoming a ruling class, they make the rules, who works and who does not. Our administrations are not enforcing the anti-trust laws. But in today's world, we can not be isolationists, we all have to get along.
That clothing they bought made in Bangladesh was putting the American mills out of work. It is the unavoidable law of economics, wages revert to the mean. People were buying German cars and paying the tax, it was cheaper. Now automation is replacing even more jobs. Unless ou seal off the country, economies will equalize. the Mexicans build cars they become better off and buy our products. One bad effect is where foreign worker can be hired to to replace American workers, this is exploitation, yet this administration wants to give them tax breaks.
Do something about wage inequality, and inheritance taxes, and that money may create more enterprises. The very rich are becoming a ruling class, they make the rules, who works and who does not. Our administrations are not enforcing the anti-trust laws. But in today's world, we can not be isolationists, we all have to get along.
22
Mr. Stephens hates President Trump so much that he prefers "allies" who abuse us on trade, immigration and the cost of defense. Why should we subsidize our "allies" so they can have a pristine infrastructure while ours crumbles?
Perhaps Mr. Stephens prefers a president who like Johnson or Bush the younger who invade other countries based on fraudulent intelligence or someone like Obama who issues red lines?
Personally, I thought Trump's speech defending Western civilization was a lot better than Jimmy Carter's "malaise" broadcast or Obama's apology tour.
Perhaps Mr. Stephens prefers a president who like Johnson or Bush the younger who invade other countries based on fraudulent intelligence or someone like Obama who issues red lines?
Personally, I thought Trump's speech defending Western civilization was a lot better than Jimmy Carter's "malaise" broadcast or Obama's apology tour.
4
He is not worthy of anyone's hate.
Disgust and contempt is more like it. We will try to survive his dangerous delusions, and help you while we're at it.
Disgust and contempt is more like it. We will try to survive his dangerous delusions, and help you while we're at it.
97
I don't think it fair nor accurate to accept the claim that the US is subsidizing your allies when it comes to defence. You choose to spend obscene amounts of money to keep your military industrial complex operational and the money flowing to military contractors, instead of pristine infrastructure.
Suppose every one of your allies decided that US bases should be closed and your nukes removed from their soil: would you say, okay, good? Not likely. Because:
"In fact, the purpose of our overseas bases is to maintain US dominance in the world, and to reinforce what military analyst Charles Maier calls our “empire of consumption.” The United States possesses less than 5 percent of global population but consumes about one-quarter of all global resources, including petroleum. Our empire exists so we can exploit a much greater share of the world’s wealth than we are entitled to, and to prevent other nations from combining against us to take their rightful share."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/08/americas-unwelcome-advances/
Suppose every one of your allies decided that US bases should be closed and your nukes removed from their soil: would you say, okay, good? Not likely. Because:
"In fact, the purpose of our overseas bases is to maintain US dominance in the world, and to reinforce what military analyst Charles Maier calls our “empire of consumption.” The United States possesses less than 5 percent of global population but consumes about one-quarter of all global resources, including petroleum. Our empire exists so we can exploit a much greater share of the world’s wealth than we are entitled to, and to prevent other nations from combining against us to take their rightful share."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/08/americas-unwelcome-advances/
16
Our allies weren't the ones who forced us to cut taxes to the point where we couldn't afford infrastructure maintenance, or prioritize military spending over infrastructure with the tax money we did collect, we did that ourselves out of some desire to be the big boy on campus. Heck Trump isn't even fixing that, he's once again prioritizing military spending over spending that actually fixes things.
23
It's really much simpler than that.
Trump is just greedy, selfish, and ignorant, and doesn't want to learn. He's been taught that he can get away with stuff, starting with parents and moving on to Roy Cohn and Roger Stone, then Putin's oligarchs propped him up in the 1990s. He thought being president would prevent the consequences he has been inviting with all those bankruptcies and all the ways he's bullied and hurt everyone he could con all his life.
Your characterization of Hillary's life experience is contemptibly oversimplified, and, as is usual from the Republican side, blames victims and thoughtful people for trying to avoid the harm their attackers have perpetrated.
Unfortunately, too many good people to my left have bought these wholesale condemnations, now known to have been promoted by trolls at home and from Russia and Putin's allies and operatives. So stupid.
Trump is just greedy, selfish, and ignorant, and doesn't want to learn. He's been taught that he can get away with stuff, starting with parents and moving on to Roy Cohn and Roger Stone, then Putin's oligarchs propped him up in the 1990s. He thought being president would prevent the consequences he has been inviting with all those bankruptcies and all the ways he's bullied and hurt everyone he could con all his life.
Your characterization of Hillary's life experience is contemptibly oversimplified, and, as is usual from the Republican side, blames victims and thoughtful people for trying to avoid the harm their attackers have perpetrated.
Unfortunately, too many good people to my left have bought these wholesale condemnations, now known to have been promoted by trolls at home and from Russia and Putin's allies and operatives. So stupid.
308
Off the reservation for a moment, calling up the past, with the excuse of a quote relevant to the apparent state of mind of Congressional Republicans, who seem unwilling to condemn outright villainy if it gets in the way of their power plays and obliging their wealthy funders:
"A friend of the devil is a friend of mine"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XacvydVrhuI
"took my 20 dollar bill and it vanished in the air"
(With apologies to those who can't stand that GD G.D. - just skip the link)
"A friend of the devil is a friend of mine"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XacvydVrhuI
"took my 20 dollar bill and it vanished in the air"
(With apologies to those who can't stand that GD G.D. - just skip the link)
7
If I'd known this would get a "pick" I would have tried to find a kinder, more complex and useful modifier than "contemptible". I stand by the rest.
1
Susan, with all due respect, what is equally stupid is the constant drumbeat encouraging conflict with Russia. I fail to see how Russia or Putin harm average Americans, it would seem our "allies" in the M.E. who have dragged us into a never ending war are doing our nation the real harm as we squander billions to protect them to enable their nation building, we need to concentrate on rebuilding our own nation and rebooting jobs for the middle class. B.T.W. let's not forget it was Clinton I who gave us N.A.F.T.A. and struck down Glass Siegel affording his Wall Street friends the opportunity to bring about the Great Recession, there was a good economy under his watch because of the dot com bubble not because he was so great. Hillary would have had us escalating wars all over the place by now, it was her Undersecretary Nuland who opened the can of worms in the Ukraine when we initiated a coup overthrowing their elected President, all but blacked out in Western Media. Trolls and Russian operatives? Why in the world are we worried about Russia, a country long past their prime, that special interests harbor dreams of taking over a nation that didn't want them should not be the primary goal of our foreign policy, the spin surrounding this entire chapter of our history of initiating conflicts in the M.E. and apparently now Russia is absolutely stupifing, it seems America is being used as a vehicle for neocons to take over the world, Americans be damned if it doesn't work.
2
Cease fire in Syria done in Hamburg is not "at the expense of Israel." On the specific mentioned in the link, putting Russia there on Israel's border is the least bad option, compared to any alternative: Iran, Hezbollah, or Assad back again.
The US ought not to keep the Syria war running forever, endless killing with not end, just because the alternative is peace with somebody.
We were not "supporting our allies in Syria" until "we ditched them." We are still supporting the Kurds. None of the rest ARE our allies. They are al Qaeda and ISIS allies. The whole "moderate" thing fell apart years ago. They were pressured or enticed, but they switched sides. The idea they were ours is fantasy, and an ugly murderous fantasy as we feed the killing in pursuit of it.
The "hatred" of Trump starts here, at the NYT and those who still want Hillary to be President. Foreign leaders deal with him without "hatred."
In fact, the Australian PM was offensive and deserved his smack down. It was a welcome message to everyone that Trump did not hesitate to do it.
Meanwhile Macron just gave him a rousing welcome in France. May has friendly conversations about timing of his visit. Merkel may not be happy with him, but does not hate him, she's too smooth and comfortable in power to be so childish.
The US ought not to keep the Syria war running forever, endless killing with not end, just because the alternative is peace with somebody.
We were not "supporting our allies in Syria" until "we ditched them." We are still supporting the Kurds. None of the rest ARE our allies. They are al Qaeda and ISIS allies. The whole "moderate" thing fell apart years ago. They were pressured or enticed, but they switched sides. The idea they were ours is fantasy, and an ugly murderous fantasy as we feed the killing in pursuit of it.
The "hatred" of Trump starts here, at the NYT and those who still want Hillary to be President. Foreign leaders deal with him without "hatred."
In fact, the Australian PM was offensive and deserved his smack down. It was a welcome message to everyone that Trump did not hesitate to do it.
Meanwhile Macron just gave him a rousing welcome in France. May has friendly conversations about timing of his visit. Merkel may not be happy with him, but does not hate him, she's too smooth and comfortable in power to be so childish.
Merkel is too smart to show the disgust having to be in his presence evinces in rational people. And May has done herself no favors by buddying up to him and trying to show herself in the "big boys" club with him, while selling her country's assets to the highest bidder (her approval has gone way down since the election, and the UK is likely to unseat her within a year or so).
Macron is likely keeping his own council and doing his surprising best for his country. Nobody benefits by stating the obvious about the emperor's new clothes at this early date, but the idea that Trump impresses anyone is delusional. His obvious lack of wisdom is out in public in the nude.
Macron is likely keeping his own council and doing his surprising best for his country. Nobody benefits by stating the obvious about the emperor's new clothes at this early date, but the idea that Trump impresses anyone is delusional. His obvious lack of wisdom is out in public in the nude.
98
I must have missed something. What did Turnbull say that was so offensive, apart from letting The Donald know that he was still looking for the U.S. to fulfill an agreement worked out with his popularly-elected predecessor vis a vis our taking some political refugees off of his hands? In any case, there's no law proclaiming that you have to have voted for Hillary to despise a racist-misogynist-xenophobe-Islamophobe-pathological liar-narcissist-ill-tempered unethical lunatic (and crappy reality-show host) who got himself elected with the indisputable help of America's foremost adversary. Neither of us really knows for sure how many of our planet's more rational leaders hate this man as much as I do but I'd be willing to bet that in a competition with Kim Jong-On and the AIDS virus Trump would make it ridiculously close.
89
Susan Anderson -- Allow me to note that yesterday a comment was allowed under one of my posts by the new system that was purely a personal attack on you, questioning not just your sincerity but your very name, "if your name is really Susan."
You've never done anything to deserve that. Really, it has no place no matter what you'd done.
It stayed up for a long time, I'm not sure if it was ever taken down.
Comments closed before I could discuss that. These discussions can't work if that sort of thing is allowed to creep in.
They'd better fix their algorithm or whatever, because that was both an outrage and dangerous to the future of this forum.
You've never done anything to deserve that. Really, it has no place no matter what you'd done.
It stayed up for a long time, I'm not sure if it was ever taken down.
Comments closed before I could discuss that. These discussions can't work if that sort of thing is allowed to creep in.
They'd better fix their algorithm or whatever, because that was both an outrage and dangerous to the future of this forum.
10
Bret ignores those of us who are neither "conservatives" nor, certainly, "liberals" of any stripe (although quite progressive, actually, on purely social issues). We should get a voice, as well.
When was the last time we witnessed Euros, and in particular Germans, seriously asking themselves what they now need to do to defend THEMSELVES? That certainly wasn't Obama, and it never would have been HRC: it was Trump who caused this to happen. In that light, look around the world and see his handiwork elsewhere. When was the last time Assad chem-bombed his own people? Whether it's trade, where others are scratching their heads about how they might maintain advantageous access to U.S. markets that are their bread and butter that Trump intimates might be threatened, or the relatively slackened pace of Russian adventurism that might have as cause the possibility of some Trumpish rapprochement, or the striking absence of bellicose news lately from the South China Sea, or even the possibility that we might hammer out a global environmental agreement that holds promise of being effective if only it's fair to U.S. interests ... a very productive context has been set over just six months.
But if you're going to be transactional, just do it: surely there must be something Putin wants that's within our power to grant or facilitate that wouldn't break us in lucre or honor. Find it, cut a deal, get him in return to resolve Ukraine and force Assad to the bargaining table.
When was the last time we witnessed Euros, and in particular Germans, seriously asking themselves what they now need to do to defend THEMSELVES? That certainly wasn't Obama, and it never would have been HRC: it was Trump who caused this to happen. In that light, look around the world and see his handiwork elsewhere. When was the last time Assad chem-bombed his own people? Whether it's trade, where others are scratching their heads about how they might maintain advantageous access to U.S. markets that are their bread and butter that Trump intimates might be threatened, or the relatively slackened pace of Russian adventurism that might have as cause the possibility of some Trumpish rapprochement, or the striking absence of bellicose news lately from the South China Sea, or even the possibility that we might hammer out a global environmental agreement that holds promise of being effective if only it's fair to U.S. interests ... a very productive context has been set over just six months.
But if you're going to be transactional, just do it: surely there must be something Putin wants that's within our power to grant or facilitate that wouldn't break us in lucre or honor. Find it, cut a deal, get him in return to resolve Ukraine and force Assad to the bargaining table.
2
Kim Jong-un appears to be at economic bay ... yet again. And desperate people will do desperate things to survive. Yet we've learned that a bribe merely means later bribes without lessening the danger. This one's up in the air: how Trump resolves this or doesn't will have an immense impact on his grade at end of his time in office, forget about a mere six months into it.
And even the potentially positive context he's created globally could have unforeseen and negative impacts. For instance, a Europe growing increasingly independent and self-sufficient from a defense posture could take positions that don't augur well for productive forward movement in an age of diminished U.S. influence. Kim could still do something monumentally stupid. Putin could get tired of waiting for a deal to materialize.
In the end, Bret focuses in all his "conservative" flavors on process and less on results. For six months, Trump has done pretty well but could have done a bit better: he gets a B+ from me for now; but, my point is that a grade at six-months with so much unresolved is at least two years too soon.
And even the potentially positive context he's created globally could have unforeseen and negative impacts. For instance, a Europe growing increasingly independent and self-sufficient from a defense posture could take positions that don't augur well for productive forward movement in an age of diminished U.S. influence. Kim could still do something monumentally stupid. Putin could get tired of waiting for a deal to materialize.
In the end, Bret focuses in all his "conservative" flavors on process and less on results. For six months, Trump has done pretty well but could have done a bit better: he gets a B+ from me for now; but, my point is that a grade at six-months with so much unresolved is at least two years too soon.
2
Meh.
Have to put more in or the bots will delete this. So I'll say it again ...
Meh.
Have to put more in or the bots will delete this. So I'll say it again ...
Meh.
43
Fake news, Richard. You're seeing triumphs where there aren't any. Insofar as figuring out what Putin wants, what's there to figure? He wants an end to the economic sanctions and Congress isn't going to give it to him. Apart from well wishes for John McCain, it's the only thing that congressional Republicans and Democrats can agree upon, and America's great white hope can fulminate until his face turns as red as that square in Moscow but there's not a darned thing he'll be able to do about getting those sanctions lifted (heck, Congress is itching to double down on them at this point). If this goes on much longer, that dossier that's sitting in the top drawer of Putin's desk is very likely to see daylight.
114
No, Stephens, liberals aren't giving him an "F." We are hoping for an "incomplete" due to impeachment.
350
Unfortunate, the line of succession (if you're curious try wikipedia) has more than a dozen dangerous operatives in it, starting with Pence and Ryan. In some ways, Trump's incompetence is less dangerous than the diehard nastiness of these hypocritical self-worshipping me-first "Christians".
Ryan made his way on government benefits and wants to get rid of them for people who could benefit as he has. He wouldn't have much truck with the historical Jesus, who was on the side of his victims, not his colleagues.
Ryan made his way on government benefits and wants to get rid of them for people who could benefit as he has. He wouldn't have much truck with the historical Jesus, who was on the side of his victims, not his colleagues.
1
Some may find President Trump's approach to foreign policy off-putting, but just wait until Scaramouchie repackages it. It will then be a debacle of another color.
21
"In Hamburg this month, Trump again showed how eager he was to oblige his man-crush in the Kremlin, this time at the expense of Israel."
Nice try Stephens. Netanyahu has always been a Putin fan. Likudniks have always has curious attachment to Russia. Netanyahu's Israel did not vote to condem annexation of Crimea and attack of Ukraine. Violating sanctions, Israel has sold drone technology - developed with $4 billion/year of US tax funds - to Russia that Russia has used in both Ukraine and Syria. Netanyahu and his right-wing regime is destroying Israel's democracy - attacking the courts, independent press, liberals, minorities, politicizing the legitimate threat from terrorism, building walls, attacking liberal diaspora Jews - Reform and Conservative Jews, and loves Putin and Saudi Wahhabism and Egypt's and other dictators - sound familiar? Then, of course, Trump and Netanyahu want to take on Iran, where their man-crush of Putin makes no sense since Russia is Iran's, Assad's and Hezbollah's sponsor.
Nice try Stephens. Netanyahu has always been a Putin fan. Likudniks have always has curious attachment to Russia. Netanyahu's Israel did not vote to condem annexation of Crimea and attack of Ukraine. Violating sanctions, Israel has sold drone technology - developed with $4 billion/year of US tax funds - to Russia that Russia has used in both Ukraine and Syria. Netanyahu and his right-wing regime is destroying Israel's democracy - attacking the courts, independent press, liberals, minorities, politicizing the legitimate threat from terrorism, building walls, attacking liberal diaspora Jews - Reform and Conservative Jews, and loves Putin and Saudi Wahhabism and Egypt's and other dictators - sound familiar? Then, of course, Trump and Netanyahu want to take on Iran, where their man-crush of Putin makes no sense since Russia is Iran's, Assad's and Hezbollah's sponsor.
121
Thanks, MC, for bringing up the Likudnik-Russian connection that I've been unaware of until just now.
1
To all of whom you named, it's not about the alliances, really, it's about who's grabbing the most power, both politically and financially. That's the real reason they don't care about their voters/constituents. It's a zero sum game to see who can end up on top.
President Trump’s “ab-normal” foreign policy:
America First = America Alone = America Last.
Maybe this can be rephrased to come up with the acronym AWFUL:
AMERICA WAY FIRST, UNCOOPERATIVE & LAST.
With Trump at the helm, America’s Ship of State drifts further and further into those seas marked: Here There Be Monsters.
America First = America Alone = America Last.
Maybe this can be rephrased to come up with the acronym AWFUL:
AMERICA WAY FIRST, UNCOOPERATIVE & LAST.
With Trump at the helm, America’s Ship of State drifts further and further into those seas marked: Here There Be Monsters.
93
This isn't high school. Thanks to Russian hackers and Wiki Leaks, we have an infantile, half-witted con man making our foreign policy. This is not going to end well.
354
i gave him 18 months when he was elected...... nothing has changed except that he may be gone sooner.
Actually, I believe we have the alt-rt guru, steve bannon and his minions, making foreign policy. Tillerson is a figure head who has sacrificed his good name and reputation to join this band of fools.
What is appalling to me is the staunch support from people who obviously know better but apparently have to much to gain if they do not tow the trumpster's line.
So, the OMG grade is perfect for the trumpster and a F- for the republican congress.
What is appalling to me is the staunch support from people who obviously know better but apparently have to much to gain if they do not tow the trumpster's line.
So, the OMG grade is perfect for the trumpster and a F- for the republican congress.
3
The problem conservatives have is that are trying to normalize, in any way possible, the off hand, adlibbed, delusional, contradictory and dangerous actions of a, deeply, mentally and emotionally disturbed man doing a job he has no qualifications for, simply because he has hung a Republican sign around his neck. If he were a Democrat they would feel free to excoriate this man and his inane policies.They wouldn't even have to make things up like Benghazi or Fast and Furious or tiny "C"s at the bottom of three Emails. They would be able to scream "Lock him up" without a hint of irony. But, because he is part of the tribe, they must bend their minds and bodies into pretzels comparing, what is really just childlike petulance (at best) or serious mental illness (at worst), into some coherent narrative that brings in de Tocqueville, Truman, Acheson, Vandenburg and even Jerry Maguire. Give it up already. There is no logic, or consistency in anything he does foreign or domestic. I hate to break it to you but your man is broken and until you realize that, you will be carrying him around with you for the rest of your lives because I intend to dismiss and counter, all your future arguments about conservative values and ideas by simply saying "Why should I listen to you, you thought Trump was presidential."
753
anyone that takes up his cause or works with or works for trump will be diminished...... this includes columnists.
1
Unfortunately, Trump and the Republican Party mentality don't see things this way. You can't possibly get through to their emotionally irrational minds what's happening to American Democracy with Trump and the Republicans as a one party ruled nation.
2
"The deeper flaw of Trump’s foreign policy isn’t psychological. It’s philosophical."
Incoherence is not a philosophy. McMaster and Cohn may have a foreign policy philosophy. Trump has a psychopathology.
Trump promises everything, delivers nothing of value. and lies about the result. He knows little, doesn't want to learn, and has no respect for expertise. He can no more articulate a foreign policy philosophy than he can go a week without contradicting himself.
Your grade of O.M.G. is exactly right.
Incoherence is not a philosophy. McMaster and Cohn may have a foreign policy philosophy. Trump has a psychopathology.
Trump promises everything, delivers nothing of value. and lies about the result. He knows little, doesn't want to learn, and has no respect for expertise. He can no more articulate a foreign policy philosophy than he can go a week without contradicting himself.
Your grade of O.M.G. is exactly right.
399
How about giving the " conservatives" a " C". For Collaborators.
268
Apologies to G & S’s Mikado
Where Trump's foreign policy ends....
Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner to the POTUS
Junior & Jared
So please you sir, this Russian deal
We hope too much not to reveal,
Trouble a man with rank so high
To keep our mouths shut, sir, we’ll try,
Tra la la la la la.
Tra la la la la la.
Junior
Life in the Slammer we’d avoid
So pardon us, so pardon us
And don’t if you are too annoyed
Be hard on us, be hard on us
To Mueller we don’t want to sing
Tra la la la la la
Tra la la la la la
We'll take the Fifth and never sing
Please pardon us, please pardon us.
We had a found-out Russian fling
So pardon us, please pardon us,
Tra la la la la la
Tra la la l la la.
Where Trump's foreign policy ends....
Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner to the POTUS
Junior & Jared
So please you sir, this Russian deal
We hope too much not to reveal,
Trouble a man with rank so high
To keep our mouths shut, sir, we’ll try,
Tra la la la la la.
Tra la la la la la.
Junior
Life in the Slammer we’d avoid
So pardon us, so pardon us
And don’t if you are too annoyed
Be hard on us, be hard on us
To Mueller we don’t want to sing
Tra la la la la la
Tra la la la la la
We'll take the Fifth and never sing
Please pardon us, please pardon us.
We had a found-out Russian fling
So pardon us, please pardon us,
Tra la la la la la
Tra la la l la la.
128
Not a mention of the fact that all types of conservatives lie to themselves all the time and thus to others all the time.