Beyond Trump

[Micawber]

Nobody really knew what to
expect when Donald Trump
became U.S. president. Would
he disrupt the status quo or maintain it?
Blow himself up or escape unscathed?
One year in, the answer is yes.
If you squint, U.S. foreign policy
during the Trump era can seem almost
normal. But the closer you look, the more
you see it being hollowed out, with the
forms and structures still in place but the
substance and purpose draining away.
The best analogy might be to health
care—something else the administration
came in hell-bent on overhauling, only
to …nd it more diŽcult than expected.
In foreign policy, too, the Trump administration
came to power promising a revolution.
But the White House has failed to
kill the existing approach outright and has
grudgingly contented itself with hopes
that it will die of neglect anyway.
In the board game Diplomacy, the
rules state that “if a player leaves the
game, or otherwise fails to submit orders,”
the player’s country is deemed to be
in “civil disorder.” The country’s pieces
stand in place, defend themselves if
attacked, and let the game proceed
around them. That’s basically what’s
happening with the United States now.
Confronted with this unprecedented
situation, Eliot Cohen concedes that to
date, the administration’s foreign policy
might be considered “a highly erratic,
obnoxious version of the Republican
normal.” But he argues that this is
because the bill for the administration’s
unconventional behavior has not
yet arrived.Jake Sullivan examines the surprising
resilience of the liberal international order,
which has managed to take a licking and
keep on ticking—so far. Other countries
appreciate what the United States created,
even if Washington doesn’t.
Barry Posen suggests that consciously
or not, the Trump administration is
following a new grand strategy, one of
illiberal hegemony. It has “pared or
abandoned many of the pillars of liberal
internationalism” but “still seeks to retain
the United States’ superior economic and
military capability and role as security
arbiter for most regions of the world.”
Adam Posen sees the global economy
moving forward calmly and steadily, with
broad-based growth …nally kicking in.
But here, too, problems have been
deferred, and a prolonged abdication of
U.S. leadership will cause real trouble.
And Sarah Margon traces the decline
of human rights as a concern in this
White House, as even the pretense of
caring about other countries’ misbehavior
has been dropped and the president
embraces a new crop of friendly tyrants.
Trying to rule the world by dominance
rather than persuasion has not worked
well in the past, and there is little doubt
that if tried again, it will fail again. The
rules of Diplomacy note that civil disorder
does not have to be permanent: “A
player who temporarily fails to submit
orders may, of course, resume play if
he returns to the game and still has some
units left.” What the world will look
like when that eventually happens is
anybody’s guess.
—Gideon Rose, Editor

Foreign affairs

Letting go...

[Micawber]

No link provided as you guys need a very pricey subscription.
I offer these token pearls before you swine ....

[Frank Apisa]

Trump did promise to make America a swamp...so what is your problem.

[Sailor]

No link provided as you guys need a very pricey subscription.
I offer these token pearls before you swine ....

$35 a year is very pricey to you huh? You poor broke fuck. Who is paying it for you?

[Micawber]

Trump did promise to make America a swamp...so what is your problem.

Make it or drain it?

[Micawber]

Poor morwron

[Frank Apisa]

Make it or drain it?

Oh, oh, oh...yeah, right. I made a mistake there. He promised to "drain the swamp" and "make America great again."

Wonder why he is doing the opposite?

[Nordberg]

Trump ran as anti US government and people voted for him, to run the country. How does that make sense.?So Trump is destroying the agencies from the inside and though the leadership. He is chopping up the EPA, the CDC, CFPB, and many, many others. He is placing incompetent people or those who avowed to end the agencies to run them. Trump voters love that. Allow the corporations to pollute at will. they love you and would never harm you. They are gutting banking regulations and returning us to pre 2008 rules. This time it will all come out different. I don't know why it should, but Donald says it will. Trump put a corporate stooge on the Supreme Court. The Roberts court is already the most pro corporate court of all time. It will be much worse now.

Trump is allowing oil drilling in lands we have protected for generations. Why? Fossil fuels time is gone. But Trump is gutting solar and wind. He is ending the bonus for buying an electric car. Yeah, I want to suck in more auto pollution.

If you guys think Trump is doing a good job, then we are doomed. He is horrible and has not even reached his peak of incompetence yet. Perhaps he will merge with Russia. it will become, Putin /us kingdom. Russia loves us and wants to preserve our freedoms., just like Trump.

[katzgar]

My hope is that enough people will be embarrassed having voted for him that they will stay home and it will throw the election in a different direction

[hvilleherb]

Trump did promise to make America a swamp...so what is your problem.

Trump promised to clean up the swamp. At the time he didn't realize the deep state was part of the swamp.

[Nordberg]

Trump promised to clean up the swamp. At the time he didn't realize the deep state was part of the swamp.

trump is a portable swamp. He takes a swamp every place he goes. His administration is a reality show in action. Infighting hate and lack of qualifications are demonstrated everywhere. Yeah, Ivanka and Jared have real political and international expertise. Yeah, sure. Positions unfilled. Cabinet members who are unqualified. This is a mess. he is looking for talks with North Korea, or says he is. Yet the person who has communicated with NK the last few years was the South Korean ambassador. Trump does not have one. perhaps jared will do that too.

[Damocles]

Trump promised to clean up the swamp. At the time he didn't realize the deep state was part of the swamp.

Now that you do, do you think he'll still work to "drain the swamp" or do you think he'll fail or give up?

[Nordberg]

Nobody really knew what to
expect when Donald Trump
became U.S. president. Would
he disrupt the status quo or maintain it?
Blow himself up or escape unscathed?
One year in, the answer is yes.
If you squint, U.S. foreign policy
during the Trump era can seem almost
normal. But the closer you look, the more
you see it being hollowed out, with the
forms and structures still in place but the
substance and purpose draining away.
The best analogy might be to health
care—something else the administration
came in hell-bent on overhauling, only
to …nd it more diŽcult than expected.
In foreign policy, too, the Trump administration
came to power promising a revolution.
But the White House has failed to
kill the existing approach outright and has
grudgingly contented itself with hopes
that it will die of neglect anyway.
In the board game Diplomacy, the
rules state that “if a player leaves the
game, or otherwise fails to submit orders,”
the player’s country is deemed to be
in “civil disorder.” The country’s pieces
stand in place, defend themselves if
attacked, and let the game proceed
around them. That’s basically what’s
happening with the United States now.
Confronted with this unprecedented
situation, Eliot Cohen concedes that to
date, the administration’s foreign policy
might be considered “a highly erratic,
obnoxious version of the Republican
normal.” But he argues that this is
because the bill for the administration’s
unconventional behavior has not
yet arrived.Jake Sullivan examines the surprising
resilience of the liberal international order,
which has managed to take a licking and
keep on ticking—so far. Other countries
appreciate what the United States created,
even if Washington doesn’t.
Barry Posen suggests that consciously
or not, the Trump administration is
following a new grand strategy, one of
illiberal hegemony. It has “pared or
abandoned many of the pillars of liberal
internationalism” but “still seeks to retain
the United States’ superior economic and
military capability and role as security
arbiter for most regions of the world.”
Adam Posen sees the global economy
moving forward calmly and steadily, with
broad-based growth …nally kicking in.
But here, too, problems have been
deferred, and a prolonged abdication of
U.S. leadership will cause real trouble.
And Sarah Margon traces the decline
of human rights as a concern in this
White House, as even the pretense of
caring about other countries’ misbehavior
has been dropped and the president
embraces a new crop of friendly tyrants.
Trying to rule the world by dominance
rather than persuasion has not worked
well in the past, and there is little doubt
that if tried again, it will fail again. The
rules of Diplomacy note that civil disorder
does not have to be permanent: “A
player who temporarily fails to submit
orders may, of course, resume play if
he returns to the game and still has some
units left.” What the world will look
like when that eventually happens is
anybody’s guess.
—Gideon Rose, Editor

Foreign affairs

Letting go...

Sounds like PNAC was not abandoned, even after the middle east disaster, trillions wasted and deaths it caused.