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Global Pulse: An America in retreat

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If one thing emerges out of Trump’s Asia trip, it is that America is in retreat, and that’s reason for many to rejoice. While for China and Russia, Trump is obviously a dream come true, even for Asian solidarity, he could be a boon.

The historic diplomacy America doesn’t need

Packed with flattery and severely lacking in strategy, “Trump’s (Asia) trip was closer to a pilgrimage than a projection of power,” writes David Ignatius in The Washington Post.

“Trump’s trip may indeed prove to be historic, but probably not in the way he intends. It may signal a U.S. accommodation to rising Chinese power, plus a desire to mend fences with a belligerent Russia — with few evident security gains for the United States. If the 1945 Yalta summit marked U.S. acceptance of the Soviet Union’s hegemony in Eastern Europe, this trip seemed to validate China’s arrival as a Pacific power. As Xi put it to Trump, ‘The Pacific Ocean is big enough to accommodate both China and the United States’.”

“But far more important than Trump’s credulous response to Putin was his eagerness for Moscow’s help in bolstering the United States’ global position. Trump has noisily drawn a red line on North Korea, for example, but he evidently needs Russia’s help, in addition to China’s, to deliver without going to war. To get Moscow’s help on North Korea, and Syria, too, Trump seems willing to give Putin a pass.”

“Trump is a vain man who flatters others so that he will be stroked himself. If there’s a strategic concept underlying his approach, it may be realism married to acquiescence. The Asia trip left me feeling that we’re watching an American retreat, accompanied by a shiny brass band,” he concluded.

Why the Chinese got to love Trump

For all practical reasons, the “leader” of the free world is a dream come true for China. In fact, with Beijing, Trump is so clueless, that Jinping could sell him the Brooklyn bridge, and he would tout it as a historic diplomatic victory, writes Thomas Friedman.

“Xi has been brilliant at playing Trump, plying him with flattery and short-term trade concessions and deflecting him from the real structural trade imbalances with China. All along, Xi keeps his eye on the long-term prize of making China great again. Trump, meanwhile, touts every minor victory as historic and proceeds down any road that will give him a quick sugar high.”

“Personally, I am not persuaded China’s top-down industrial policy will make China great in the end; it has created huge domestic debt challenges related to its state-owned industries and real estate bubbles. In fact, I’m certain our economic system is better than theirs — in theory.

But China, with its ability to focus, is getting 90 percent out of its inferior system, and it has brought China a long way fast. And we, with too little focus, are getting 50 percent out of our superior system. If that persists, it will impact the balance of power.

Now you know why the Chinese were so happy to throw a bash for Trump in Beijing,” he writes.

An inward-looking US could be a boon for Asia

His isolationism could be bringing Asia closer, though, argues The Japan Times. On November 11, something that the punditariat did not envision, happened: Abe and Xi getting together, with Xi saying he craves “positive developments” in relations, and Abe saying he’ll “strongly promote” deeper cooperation.

To be sure, “we’ve seen this movie before — Abe and Xi making nice, only to return to base nationalist comfort zones. What’s changed, though, is an America turning inward at the same moment Asia’s two most powerful leaders feel confident enough at home to make a deal.”

“Let’s add in another positive wrinkle: Xi’s 40-minute summit with South Korea’s Moon Jae-in in Danang. The last 16 months have seen Beijing-Seoul relations fall off a cliff…Now, Xi and Moon are planning a Beijing summit.”

“While all three remain circumspect, none can be happy to read his ‘short and fat’ barb at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump’s bizarre comments in defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin were wildly off-subject at a moment when Asia isn’t sure this White House will work with it or against it. As Trump heads back to Washington, it seems clear that ‘America first’ is amounting to ‘Asia first’ in the global economic packing order.”

Even at her worst, May is a better leader than Trump

It’s rare for Theresa May to have anything good written about her nowadays.

As the New York Time argues, “Even in normal times the scandals would have rocked the government, but the brutally complex and consequential task of extricating Britain from the European Union, prompted by an ill-conceived referendum almost 17 months ago, has all but paralyzed the government already.”

Yet, May seems to have got one thing right. “At least she knows how the leader of a democracy should respond to an egomaniacal, autocratic leader who shows no concern for international law, human rights, civil liberties or freedom of thought and speech,” writes Andrew Rosenthal in The New York Times.

“It is Russia’s actions which threaten the international order on which we all depend,” she said. “We know what you were doing and you will not succeed,” she said, “because you underestimate the resilience of our democracies, the enduring attraction of free and open societies, and the commitment of Western nations to the alliances that bind us.”

Contrast this with Trump’s message to Russia, which for all practical reasons is: Do what you want. “In February, when Bill O’Reilly pointed out to Trump that Putin is ‘a killer’, the president replied: There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent?” Full marks for honesty, Mr. President!

Who has the authority to stop a nuclear war in Trump-land?

Among the many things that Trump doesn’t quite know or at least understand, is what his rhetoric is doing with North Korea, said former Defense Secretary Bill Perry in an interview to Politico. A nuclear war is entirely possible, and nobody can count on the cabinet to preclude it, he says.

Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are a “stabilising influence”, yes, but that doesn’t mean they can do much, Perry argues.

“Perry knows Mattis well—while Perry was defense secretary in the 1990s, Mattis worked for him directly, and they both ended up at Stanford University in recent years. The two still talk, and Perry thinks Mattis understands the nuclear threat well—he just doesn’t think Mattis would necessarily be able to do anything if Trump decided to go ahead with a strike.”

“The order can go directly from the president to the Strategic Air Command,” he said. “The defense secretary is not necessarily in that loop. So, in a five- or six- or seven-minute kind of decision, the secretary of defense probably never hears about it until it’s too late. If there is time, and if he does consult the secretary, it’s advisory, just that,” Perry explained. “Whether (the president) goes with it or doesn’t go with it—(the secretary) doesn’t have the authority to stop it.”

 

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1 COMMENT

  1. Cut copy and paste of CNN propaganda to degrade Trump, what is that u guys want trump to do, the truth is that u guys are simply jealous of him because he is filthy rich and now he is also president of USA inspite of being ridiculed at every stage by the “liberals “

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