Trending
Donald Trump's pyrotechnics reminds one of the clumsiness of a bad juggler. He issues a statement on Iran and then the very next day most of his administration is claiming that he doesn't mean what he seemed to say. Nikki Haley, U.N. ambassador, and Rex Tillerson, secretary of state, claimed that the Iranian deal was not dead as far as the United States was concerned, even though their boss claimed it had no relevance for the future.
Oh, brother. Although Trump claims it is simply his stealthy way of doing business, it appeared to confuse his cabinet, not America's adversaries. Iran cares not a fig for Washington's attitude, regarding it as a practical deal made with an enemy. Moreover, with every other nation on board, it makes America seem like an aberrant on the world stage. The claim that Trump is covert is a laugh; he is like a man with bells on his coat, you can hear him for miles.
This has been building for a long time. When George W. Bush unilaterally invaded Iraq, he endangered America's allies by disregarding their interests. Barack Obama's irresponsible invasion of Libya showed that America could not contain itself even though Muammar al-Gadaffi pledged not to seek nuclear weapons in order to gain a guarantee of no regime change. The American-backed coup in Turkey also sent a signal. Now Trump will give other countries further excuse to distance themselves from the United States.
Naturally the U.S. press ignores the changes in the world and worry about Russia's so-called faults. The coalition against Vladimir Putin is near collapse. Angela Merkel's government faces in the Bundstag those who want sanctions dropped. In Austria a coalition of far-right parties also desire a relaxation of tensions. Petro Poroshenko's government is a fiscal and moral bankrupt. Even Hungary denounces Kiev as discriminating against their nationals inside Ukraine's borders.
That Americans do not see this is largely because its news outlets re-fight the election of 2016. It's Trump versus anti-Trump without noticing how both are similar. They all assume America is the number one moral entity in the world, taking scarce notice of how the world changes. When Trump treats China like it is 1989 it's no different from liberal observers who drool over Gordon Chang's new China lobby. Naturally, everyone follows America's lead -- right.
Much of the Putin investigation was about hindering Trump's policy of normalization. Trump, on the other hand, mouths decade-old nonsense about the Islamic Republic, although no one else in Europe or Asia or his own White House seem to agree. Either way, both are deluded and playing to their "bases" without regard to the different world they face.
It is a contest about style, not substance. The tired leaders in the White House trying to contain Trump have destroyed anything that was original about the president while making him prey to the alt-right ravings of Steve Bannon. American foreign policy has been poorly shaped since the end of the Cold War. As Ronald Reagan quipped, you cannot just blame the president "because it takes teamwork" to get into such a mess.