I don't think we can overstate what a massive foreign policy failure this administration's China policy has been. Previous administrations had their faults and certainly turned blind eyes to the Chinese government's human right violations like the Trump administration overlooking Uighur persecution. But that was specifically to gain inroads on trade and intellectual property protection which not only hasn't materialized at all but our lack of leadership internationally has emboldened Xi and the CPP even further. It is not a coincidence that China chose the last 4 years to enact new restrictions in Hong Kong and now Mongolia. Those moves are only possible when the US is equal parts incompetent and uninterested in taking actions to prevent them.
The Trump administration isn't overlooking what China is doing to a predominately Muslim population, they're probably taking notes.
I don't think we can overstate what a massive foreign policy failure this administration's China policy has been. Previous administrations had their faults and certainly turned blind eyes to the Chinese government's human right violations like the Trump administration overlooking Uighur persecution. But that was specifically to gain inroads on trade and intellectual property protection which not only hasn't materialized at all but our lack of leadership internationally has emboldened Xi and the CPP even further. It is not a coincidence that China chose the last 4 years to enact new restrictions in Hong Kong and now Mongolia. Those moves are only possible when the US is equal parts incompetent and uninterested in taking actions to prevent them.
The Trump administration isn't overlooking what China is doing to a predominately Muslim population, they're probably taking notes.
We know Trump literally told Xi the death and re-education camps were the right thing to do.
This strikes me as giving putin an excuse to completely pull out and look more like the rational actor then trump does.
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MayabirdPecking at the keyboardRegistered Userregular
Trump's cronies have been going around to all sorts of different countries begging for election help. It was a big scandal in Brazil when it came out there (though didn't make a ripple in the US). Pompeo just tried to get an audience at the Vatican probably for that reason.
"Thank you for your sacrifice."
"Our family member was honored to serve."
"Oh, you're maybe not yet done sacrificing."
These fucking people. I hate them so much. Troops and the people they left behind, used as props, but clearly not given a shit about beyond their ability to bolster polling/campaigns.
Basically, he insinuates that he got Covid from the people at that meeting, because THEY refused to socially distance, and he wanted to, but what could he do?
I think at some point we need to differentiate between "Gold Star families" and "Gold Star families that didn't decide to stay the hell away from Trump years ago". I have far less sympathy for the latter group.
I think at some point we need to differentiate between "Gold Star families" and "Gold Star families that didn't decide to stay the hell away from Trump years ago". I have far less sympathy for the latter group.
Yeah, year 4 during his re-election campaign, Trump is a known quantity. If you're willing to go and smooze it up with him at a party and associate yourself with him, you're a goose and frankly have it coming when he inevitably throws you under the bus for some reason or another.
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I ZimbraWorst song, played on ugliest guitarRegistered Userregular
The Trump administration is considering declaring that several prominent international NGOs — including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam — are anti-Semitic and that governments should not support them, two people familiar with the issue said.
The proposed declaration could come from the State Department as soon as this week. If the declaration happens, it is likely to cause an uproar among civil society groups and might spur litigation. Critics of the possible move also worry it could lead other governments to further crack down on such groups. The groups named, meanwhile, deny any allegations that they are anti-Semitic.
They’re really trying to figure out that Florida vote, this and the getting various third world dictatorships and Saudi surrogates to quid pro quo recognition of Israel seem to be their big push
It's the whole thing where any criticism of the US (and/or the current administration) becomes "why do you hate FREEDOM?", but with Israel and all Jewish people everywhere.
I feel the US has previously walked a line of trying to diminish the influence of Iran and Syria (and their sponsors) by keeping a balance of power between the Gulf states, Israel, and a grab bag of neighboring nations (Iraq, Jordan).
I imagine the big brain thinking was that if you can diminish the strength of your outright rivals while maintaining the balance between undesirable allies, eventually you arrive at a semi-stable place where the opposing nations you have minimal influence on are out of the picture, and you can dictate stronger terms amongst the remaining players due to previous support and ongoing ability to play regional king maker.
With Trump, we’ve just thrown full support behind the worst of the Gulf state influences and the hardest right-wingers of Israel. He’s increased the influence of our outright rivals while potentially destabilizing relations among key players (most Gulf states, to my knowledge, have never shown the dedication to the Palestinians that more neighboring states have, so signing a paper with Israel means nothing good on that front, which I can’t see Jordanian or Egyptian citizens being thrilled by).
I’m not going to defend the previous approach as any kind of success by the definition I choose, which is heavy on Palestinian self-governance, but it’s infuriating how much influence we’ve thrown away for one man’s vanity and, I suspect, debt payments.
Some say that our foreign policy has always been brutal and that any humanitarian goals have always been a thin cover for imperialist ambitions. I don’t disagree with that, but I think many of us, myself included, have failed to recognize the actual value of paying lip service to caring about non-American citizens. In a world where humanitarian progress is uncertain and haphazard, even pretending that it’s a US objective requires certain behaviors that can relieve international suffering. When the focal point of international cooperation is led by a cruel, self-serving idiot, there’s no real pressure for any nation to act in the interest of foreign people.
Example A is the giant void where a global pandemic response belongs. And honestly that it’s been a void for this long freaks me the hell out.
Pretty much. The options on the Middle East were basically either attempt to create an equlibrium or appoint a "winner". Obama was for option 1, Trump picked option 2.
Speaking off, next country to join the appointed winner is Sudan:
Hillel Neuer is a Canadian-born international lawyer, writer, and the executive director of UN Watch, a human rights NGO and UN watchdog group based in Geneva, Switzerland.
As Neuer explains it, this is massive. And yes, they were basically pressed to do it:
So you pay a fine and get removed from the list. Any idea what Iran's tab is?
Also, "once deposited" where exactly? A Chinese bank account that is totally not worth looking into?
I wonder how much Trump would charge Putin to ignore the bounties placed on US servicemembers, if Putin didn't so clearly already have Trump's genitals in a vice grip.
Which makes an interesting mix of people who find statements before and after he left the administration credible and non-credible at different times.
Xi "explained to Trump why he was basically building concentration camps in Xinjiang," Bolton wrote, citing the interpreter's account. The interpreter added that "Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which Trump thought was exactly the right thing to do," according to the book.
Bolton also wrote in the book that Matthew Pottinger, a retired US Marine and the current deputy national security adviser, "told me that Trump said something very similar during his November 2017 trip to China."
"At the opening dinner of the Osaka G-20 meeting in June 2019, with only interpreters present, Xi had explained to Trump why he was basically building concentration camps in Xinjiang. According to our interpreter, Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which Trump thought was exactly the right thing to do. The National Security Council’s top Asia staffer, Matthew Pottinger, told me that Trump said something very similar during his November 2017 trip to China."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar took part in a virtual signing ceremony of the Geneva Consensus Declaration. Egypt, Uganda, Brazil, Hungary and Indonesia co-sponsored the pact along with the U.S. Thirty-two nations signed it.
The nonbinding declaration says it seeks to improve women's health, preserve human life and strengthen the family unit.
"We, the representatives of our sovereign nations do hereby declare in mutual friendship and respect, our commitment to work together to: Reaffirm that there is no international right to abortion," the declaration read
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BlackDragon480Bluster KerfuffleMaster of Windy ImportRegistered Userregular
Conservatives doubling down on the idea that criticizing Israeli abuse of Palestinians is anti-semitism.
They really, really want to get that rapture going.
I'm honestly surprised there hasn't been a serious, state sanctioned (Israel or Evangelical US backed) attempt to destroy the Al-Asqa Mosque and clear the Temple Mount, so the third and final temple can be consecrated by the Antichrist and we can get our Harmeggido on.
No matter where you go...there you are. ~ Buckaroo Banzai
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
Ok so I didn’t want to drag the election thread offtopic but I have what’s probably a vain hope that a Biden administration would actually try to engage with the Palestinian people and get a real peace agreement rather than just a rubberstamp of Israeli occupational policy.
One thing I’d love to see is for us to give the Palestinians office space in that stupid embassy in Jerusalem.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Part of me wants to say that Biden would just try to reverse what Trump did, but unfortunately things are rarely that easy.
Foreign policy tends to have a lot of inertia and anything that’s changed under Trump isn’t easily or rapidly unchanged. Biden will have to work with what Trump left him, which means that Palestine will have good reason to not come to a Biden administration’s table, which makes things complicated. How could they possibly trust a Trump 2.0 won’t stab them in the back in four years?
Realistically, I expect Trump’s damage to take over a decade to be repaired. Meaning that at best, Biden lays the groundwork for a future administration to maybe stop the annexation.
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
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OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
Nobody can trust that Trump 2.0 won't stab them in the back in four years.
The damage he's done to our soft power would have been unthinkable four years ago.
Nobody can trust that Trump 2.0 won't stab them in the back in four years.
The damage he's done to our soft power would have been unthinkable four years ago.
As long as Trump's alive nobody can trust we won't be dealing with him again in 4 years. Even if he's not, in 2 years time when the primaries start up, the entire world is going to be looking to see how Trump-like the next Republican challenger is. The biggest danger is someone who's actually not lazy managing to whip up the same blind devotion, because then we're literally staring down the fall of American democracy.
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
That’s why we convict him of a felony so he can’t run again
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
The challenge here is all those Arab states fully abandoning Palestine now. The U.S. would have a much heavier lift to pressure Isreal into doing anything other than occupation. Maybe Biden is secretly willing to take such big steps but I haven't heard any such plans.
Ok so I didn’t want to drag the election thread offtopic but I have what’s probably a vain hope that a Biden administration would actually try to engage with the Palestinian people and get a real peace agreement rather than just a rubberstamp of Israeli occupational policy.
One thing I’d love to see is for us to give the Palestinians office space in that stupid embassy in Jerusalem.
I'd like to see us open a Palestinian Embassy in East Jerusalem. Not an Interests Section, a full Embassy. With geographic recognition to come later, but essentially force the issue on the two state solution even though it's been dead for a generation.
Let's be honest, the only way a two-state solution could happen is if an semi-permanent international peacekeeping force was placed on the Israel-Palestine border. The Israeli government and conservatives have no motivation whatsoever not to abuse every bit of their control.
Let's be honest, the only way a two-state solution could happen is if an semi-permanent international peacekeeping force was placed on the Israel-Palestine border. The Israel government and conservatives have no motivation whatsoever not to abuse every bit of their control.
Which realistically won’t happen. What world leader is gonna put their necks on the line for Palestine at this point?
America just had too much global power. As diminished as we are, no country is gonna risk themselves without a serious coalition, and the US’s habit of potentially electing a moronic sociopath that torpedos policy every four years will make everyone hesitant to commit to US State department goals.
I just don’t see US foreign policy recovering in the next several years, so if not the US, who is gonna lead the charge?
That’s not rhetorical by the way, I’m serious. This isn’t to infantilize Israel or Palestine, but if they are unable come to a peaceful resolution on their own, which county(s) in the world are willing to risk their power to force a solution?
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
One of Trump's worst foreign policy decisions, doing massive amounts of damage to our power, is appointing Pompeo SecState
That’s why we convict him of a felony so he can’t run again
Won't matter. A felony only stops a person from voting*, but it expressly doesn't stop them from running for President. It's been done before, though not by anyone with his popularity among the base.
* In some states, for the duration of imprisonment, for others, well past that, often with conditions for reinstatement.
That’s why we convict him of a felony so he can’t run again
Won't matter. A felony only stops a person from voting*, but it expressly doesn't stop them from running for President. It's been done before, though not by anyone with his popularity among the base.
* In some states, for the duration of imprisonment, for others, well past that, often with conditions for reinstatement.
Yep. Has to be impeachment to ban someone from office.
Taking Sudan off of the terror list is unambiguously good; even if their inclusion was originally justified, the government that was placed on that list was overthrown last year, so there was no reason to keep them on it.
A lot of people in Sudan, including political leaders, are understandably angry at the government for normalizing relations with Israel, with some saying the agreement is illegitimate as it was signed by an unelected transitional government.
I must admit that getting Sudan, UAE, and Bahrain to normalize relations in the space of a couple months is a pretty significant diplomatic win for the Trump administration. Which isn't meant to imply that it's a good thing - I see it as a betrayal of Palestine and a legitimization of settler colonialism - but for Israel and its supporters here I think it's a major win, even if those Gulf monarchies had been tacitly cooperating with Israel for some time already.
Posts
The Trump administration isn't overlooking what China is doing to a predominately Muslim population, they're probably taking notes.
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
We know Trump literally told Xi the death and re-education camps were the right thing to do.
I'm not sure how to parse this but either way it seems like a big deal?
"Terrible Diplomat Threatens to Give You What You Want"
It's definitely a big deal for Iran and anybody opposed to Iranian control of the region
This strikes me as giving putin an excuse to completely pull out and look more like the rational actor then trump does.
But the Pope was having none of that.
"Hard to think of something more selfish and terrible than the White House hosting a dangerous superspreader event with Gold Star families."
https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-quietly-told-vets-group-it-might-have-exposed-them-to-covid/
- Tommy Vietor was a White House Staffer for Obama, and a podcast host for Crooked Media.
"Thank you for your sacrifice."
"Our family member was honored to serve."
"Oh, you're maybe not yet done sacrificing."
These fucking people. I hate them so much. Troops and the people they left behind, used as props, but clearly not given a shit about beyond their ability to bolster polling/campaigns.
Support the troops. Vote Republicans out.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/08/trump-gold-star-families-coronavirus-427875
"Trump says Gold Star families could have given him Covid-19"
Basically, he insinuates that he got Covid from the people at that meeting, because THEY refused to socially distance, and he wanted to, but what could he do?
Yeah, year 4 during his re-election campaign, Trump is a known quantity. If you're willing to go and smooze it up with him at a party and associate yourself with him, you're a goose and frankly have it coming when he inevitably throws you under the bus for some reason or another.
There is no bottom with these people.
Conservatives doubling down on the idea that criticizing Israeli abuse of Palestinians is anti-semitism.
They really, really want to get that rapture going.
I imagine the big brain thinking was that if you can diminish the strength of your outright rivals while maintaining the balance between undesirable allies, eventually you arrive at a semi-stable place where the opposing nations you have minimal influence on are out of the picture, and you can dictate stronger terms amongst the remaining players due to previous support and ongoing ability to play regional king maker.
With Trump, we’ve just thrown full support behind the worst of the Gulf state influences and the hardest right-wingers of Israel. He’s increased the influence of our outright rivals while potentially destabilizing relations among key players (most Gulf states, to my knowledge, have never shown the dedication to the Palestinians that more neighboring states have, so signing a paper with Israel means nothing good on that front, which I can’t see Jordanian or Egyptian citizens being thrilled by).
I’m not going to defend the previous approach as any kind of success by the definition I choose, which is heavy on Palestinian self-governance, but it’s infuriating how much influence we’ve thrown away for one man’s vanity and, I suspect, debt payments.
Some say that our foreign policy has always been brutal and that any humanitarian goals have always been a thin cover for imperialist ambitions. I don’t disagree with that, but I think many of us, myself included, have failed to recognize the actual value of paying lip service to caring about non-American citizens. In a world where humanitarian progress is uncertain and haphazard, even pretending that it’s a US objective requires certain behaviors that can relieve international suffering. When the focal point of international cooperation is led by a cruel, self-serving idiot, there’s no real pressure for any nation to act in the interest of foreign people.
Example A is the giant void where a global pandemic response belongs. And honestly that it’s been a void for this long freaks me the hell out.
Speaking off, next country to join the appointed winner is Sudan:
Hillel Neuer is a Canadian-born international lawyer, writer, and the executive director of UN Watch, a human rights NGO and UN watchdog group based in Geneva, Switzerland.
As Neuer explains it, this is massive. And yes, they were basically pressed to do it:
Official account of Abdalla Hamdok, Prime Minister of Sudan.
Also, "once deposited" where exactly? A Chinese bank account that is totally not worth looking into?
I wonder how much Trump would charge Putin to ignore the bounties placed on US servicemembers, if Putin didn't so clearly already have Trump's genitals in a vice grip.
Evidence for this?
Source is John Bolton.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-told-chinas-president-that-building-concentration-camps-for-millions-of-uighur-muslims-was-exactly-the-right-thing-to-do-former-adviser-says/ar-BB15CRGw
Which makes an interesting mix of people who find statements before and after he left the administration credible and non-credible at different times.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/17/bolton-says-trump-didnt-just-ignore-human-rights-encouraged-chinas-concentration-camps/
"At the opening dinner of the Osaka G-20 meeting in June 2019, with only interpreters present, Xi had explained to Trump why he was basically building concentration camps in Xinjiang. According to our interpreter, Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which Trump thought was exactly the right thing to do. The National Security Council’s top Asia staffer, Matthew Pottinger, told me that Trump said something very similar during his November 2017 trip to China."
Also conservatives:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1244487?__twitter_impression=true
I'm honestly surprised there hasn't been a serious, state sanctioned (Israel or Evangelical US backed) attempt to destroy the Al-Asqa Mosque and clear the Temple Mount, so the third and final temple can be consecrated by the Antichrist and we can get our Harmeggido on.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
One thing I’d love to see is for us to give the Palestinians office space in that stupid embassy in Jerusalem.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Part of me wants to say that Biden would just try to reverse what Trump did, but unfortunately things are rarely that easy.
Foreign policy tends to have a lot of inertia and anything that’s changed under Trump isn’t easily or rapidly unchanged. Biden will have to work with what Trump left him, which means that Palestine will have good reason to not come to a Biden administration’s table, which makes things complicated. How could they possibly trust a Trump 2.0 won’t stab them in the back in four years?
Realistically, I expect Trump’s damage to take over a decade to be repaired. Meaning that at best, Biden lays the groundwork for a future administration to maybe stop the annexation.
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
The damage he's done to our soft power would have been unthinkable four years ago.
As long as Trump's alive nobody can trust we won't be dealing with him again in 4 years. Even if he's not, in 2 years time when the primaries start up, the entire world is going to be looking to see how Trump-like the next Republican challenger is. The biggest danger is someone who's actually not lazy managing to whip up the same blind devotion, because then we're literally staring down the fall of American democracy.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I'd like to see us open a Palestinian Embassy in East Jerusalem. Not an Interests Section, a full Embassy. With geographic recognition to come later, but essentially force the issue on the two state solution even though it's been dead for a generation.
Which realistically won’t happen. What world leader is gonna put their necks on the line for Palestine at this point?
America just had too much global power. As diminished as we are, no country is gonna risk themselves without a serious coalition, and the US’s habit of potentially electing a moronic sociopath that torpedos policy every four years will make everyone hesitant to commit to US State department goals.
I just don’t see US foreign policy recovering in the next several years, so if not the US, who is gonna lead the charge?
That’s not rhetorical by the way, I’m serious. This isn’t to infantilize Israel or Palestine, but if they are unable come to a peaceful resolution on their own, which county(s) in the world are willing to risk their power to force a solution?
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
Won't matter. A felony only stops a person from voting*, but it expressly doesn't stop them from running for President. It's been done before, though not by anyone with his popularity among the base.
* In some states, for the duration of imprisonment, for others, well past that, often with conditions for reinstatement.
Yep. Has to be impeachment to ban someone from office.
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A lot of people in Sudan, including political leaders, are understandably angry at the government for normalizing relations with Israel, with some saying the agreement is illegitimate as it was signed by an unelected transitional government.
I must admit that getting Sudan, UAE, and Bahrain to normalize relations in the space of a couple months is a pretty significant diplomatic win for the Trump administration. Which isn't meant to imply that it's a good thing - I see it as a betrayal of Palestine and a legitimization of settler colonialism - but for Israel and its supporters here I think it's a major win, even if those Gulf monarchies had been tacitly cooperating with Israel for some time already.