Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 19, 2017



James Joyner, National Interest: How Trump's National Security Strategy Breaks with the Past

This version is starkly different, repeatedly sandwiching Trumpian policy in between platitudes about long-standing American values.

President Trump unveiled a new National Security Strategy on Monday. Previews of the document, based on leaked drafts and backchannel interviews, had given the impression that it would be a bland continuity of previous administrations’ strategies, with a few sops to Trumpism thrown in to satisfy the boss. A careful reading, however, shows it to be the reverse: a radical departure from the past within a penumbra of stability.

Obama’s February 2015 NSS was an idealist wish list, bordering on constructivism. Trump’s is petulance and solipsism masquerading as realism.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 19, 2017

Trump's Security Strategy Is Sound, If He Believes It -- Bloomberg editorial

The Guardian view on Trump’s national security strategy: a veneer of credibility -- The Guardian editorial

Why Is the White House Ignoring Its National Security Strategy? -- Dave Majumdar, National Interest

The global backlash against China is growing -- John Pomfret, Washington Post

Why Trump Treats Xi and China Differently -- Don Tse & Larry Ong, RCD

What are the real purposes of Pyongyang’s new satellites? -- Robert E. McCoy, Asia Times

Now that ISIS is mostly defeated, will U.S. stay in Iraq? -- Jim Michaels, USA Today

Chinese companies poised to help rebuild war-torn Syria -- Robert W Anderson, Asia Times

Cyril Ramaphosa: Who is the ANC's new leader? -- Al Jazeera

Kremlin Blocks Political Opposition Websites -- Vladimir Kara-Murza, World Affairs

Venezuela's a Disaster, Yet Socialism's Popularity Soars -- Jonah Goldberg, LA Times

Chile election ends era of female presidents in Latin America -- Caroline Stauffer & Mitra Taj, Reuters

Will Trump's plans trigger a tax war? -- Natalie Sherman, BBC

Now, a different clash of civilizations -- John Lloyd, Reuters

The U.S. Might Be Stumbling Into Two Different Wars at Once -- Joshua Keating, Slate

1 comment:

Unknown said...

A well written piece in NI. As was pointed out these papers aren't taken too seriously but it is another brick in the wall. Erratic, filled with veiled threats and conspiracies is par for the course in the Trump administration. I would imagine it would take a decade to get American influence and credibility back to at least where it was after Trump is out.