U.S. President Donald Trump announces his new National Security Adviser Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (L) at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida U.S. February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Gabriel Elefteriu, The Telegraph: General McMaster knows where the West went wrong, and can help President Trump make it right
It has become fashionable in some quarters to see President Trump's election as somehow constituting a terminal blow to the Western-led liberal international order. The problem with this is that it allows chronic errors at the heart of Western strategic thinking to continue to go unaddressed.
There are, however, exceptions to this – and none more relevant today than the new US National Security Adviser, Lt. Gen. McMaster. In one of his last public engagements in his previous role as the Army’s chief “futures” thinker, delivered at Policy Exchange three weeks ago, General McMaster laid out a potential blueprint for America’s strategic approach to global security challenges.
Even before the new administration came into office, some key military thinkers like McMaster were clear on just how precarious the West’s strategic situation had become. At Policy Exchange, the General said that, against a background of “sophisticated strategies devised by Russia and China”, we are facing “the highest chance of war for the past 70 years.” The idea that “we need to start winning again” was already in the ether before President Trump adopted it as a campaign slogan. This, at least, is one area of consensus between the White House and the broader US national security establishment.
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Previous Post: Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials On National Security Adviser Nominee General H.R. McMaster (February 21, 2017)
WNU Editor: This is my must read post for today. As to what is my take .... Lt. Gen. McMaster was President Trump's 3rd choice for U.S. National Security adviser .... that is not a great position to be in when starting a new job ..... especially this job. But he has the job .... he will probably be confirmed unanimously ..... and more importantly .... he now has the ear of the U.S. President. I did not know who was General McMaster until this past weekend .... but after reading his bio, commentaries from those who know him, his war record, and more importantly .... his own analysis and thinking on what strategic direction the U.S. should take ..... I have to wonder why he was not President Trump's first choice. This is why I like the above analysis by Gabriel Elefteriu .... he has pinpointed what has been a long term weakness in U.S. foreign policy .... and that is a lack of strategic thinking and direction. Lt. Gen. McMaster definitely has the brains, wisdom, temperament, and experience to provide this strategic thinking and direction .... we can now only hope that he will be able to provide it to President Trump for the next 4 years.
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