Xi is creating an alternative to the West
Xi Jinping’s goal is not only to reform China, but create a global alternative to the West. And he is approaching this goal methodically, writes Shiu Sin Por in The South China Morning Post.
One of his goals is “rising above the American dream of 40 acres and a mule, makes the Chinese dream a collective goal, calling for the ‘Great Revival of the Chinese People’ by 2049. It is important to note that the goal did not specify the revival of the Chinese state but its ‘people’. China is already one of the top two economies in the world. This goal is obviously not limited to state power, or economic and military strength. Most importantly, it calls for the revival of Chinese culture and civilisation, a significant change since the Communists took over China.”
“To the West, the Chinese offer of an alternative value system – collectivism instead of individualism, harmony instead of confrontational competition, coexistence instead of domination – poses an even bigger challenge than China’s economic and military might.” Xi is seeking to integrate all these to offer an alternative to the West.
Venezuela is a fig leaf in Trump’s Muslim ban
What was Donald Trump thinking when he imposed his travel ban on Venezuela? Not much, argue Michael J. Camilleri and Ben Raderstorf in The New York Times. While the ban may further a sanctions strategy that is struggling to gain traction against the repressive regime of President Nicolás Maduro, it is likely to do little to protect the United States, they write.
“As the White House continues its quest for a long-term travel ban that can survive constitutional scrutiny, it hopes that the inclusion of Venezuela (alongside North Korea, which sent a whopping 52 visitors to the United States last year) lends weight to the argument that the travel ban is motivated by legitimate security concerns rather than Islamophobia,” they write.
“Including Venezuela in the otherwise unrelated travel ban fits with this unilateral trend and adds to the sense that a frustrated White House is throwing things at the wall and hoping something will stick.”
“Strategic ambiguity and military threats may be useful in some contexts. On Venezuela, however, they simply feed Mr. Maduro’s conspiracy theories, undermine attempts to isolate the regime, and hamper efforts to support the Venezuelan people.”
Trump’s hollowed-out bureaucracy
It’s not just Venezuela though. Skeptics of Trump’s foreign policy say that the Trump administration has not explicated any clear strategy on major issues like Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Russia. While Trump’s bombast has its obvious role to play, a less visible reason is equally significant: a hollowed-out bureaucracy that has been slow to develop and implement strategy, writes David Ignatius in The Washington Post.
“Because so many key political positions haven’t been filled at the State Department, the interagency process that’s supposed to decide and implement policy is something of an ‘empty suit,’ veteran officials say.”
Yet, oblivious to how vacancies preclude effective functioning, Trump remains boastful of the many vacant policy positions. “I’m generally not going to make a lot of the appointments that would normally be — because you don’t need them,” he said in a recent interview.
“This is a different kind of administration, and the normal six- to-eight-month transition process will in this case probably take 12 to 14 months. It will take that much time to get the key political-appointee jobs filled and to get the interagency process working the way it needs to work,” says Stephen Hadley, who was national security adviser for George W. Bush.
Can Europe save the day?
If and when the US decertifies Iran’s compliance over the nuclear accord, would it mean that the historic agreement would be dead? No, suggests David Patrikarakos in Politico EU. Europe could very well rise to the occasion and save the deal.
“What Trump seems to fail to understand is that the deal doesn’t just involve the U.S. and Tehran, but ‘the P5+1’ — the five Security Council powers and Germany. And — aside from a faction of hard-liners in Iran — none of the other signatories agree with the U.S. President,” Patrikarakos writes.
“The agreement is that rarest of things: a concrete result of European unity. And so it’s only natural that the EU wishes to keep it in place.
“Europe is also united in its belief that Iran’s moderates are the best hope — though the term is always relative — for the country’s future, as well as for stability in the Middle East.”
Independence can wait
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont just addressed a parliamentary session that left many scratching their heads. He basically “tried to pull off a sophisticated act of political acrobatics Tuesday — and ended up upsetting or confusing both rivals and allies,” writes Diego Torris in Politico EU.
His government, he said, has the mandate to secede from Spain, but wouldn’t immediately push for it, instead seeking a period of negotiation with the Spanish government in the coming weeks.
“To further complicate matters, after the formal parliamentary session ended, separatist lawmakers signed a statement calling on the countries of the world to acknowledge the Catalan Republic,” Diego reports.
“If Puigdemont’s aim was to de-escalate tensions and avoid Madrid taking control of the Catalan executive — which was all but guaranteed if he had called for a clean breakup — it’s not clear he succeeded.”
As Josep Borrell, a Catalan and former president of the European Parliament, said: “They may avoid the tragedy, but will continue with the comedy.”