Reuters (February 20)
“Europe, which was late to appreciate the danger posed by Putin, won’t quickly forget the lesson even if he goes.” National defense budgets are being hiked and “Europe will be paying more for its protection for years to come,” not to mention bearing costs related to supporting and rebuilding Ukraine. Still, “these costs pale by comparison with a scenario where Putin had triumphed in Ukraine. In that case Europe would now be worrying how to protect the Baltic States and Poland from his aggression. Yet even a Russia weakened by a year of war and sanctions remains a problem for Europe.”
Tags: Aggression, Baltic States, Costs, Danger, Defense budgets, Europe, Poland, Protection, Putin, Rebuilding, Sanctions, Triumphed, Ukraine, War, Weakened
Bloomberg (November 6)
“For the US, China is a dangerous but distant challenge. For Japan, China is the existential danger next door.” Today, “the threat of Chinese aggression is producing a quiet revolution in Japanese statecraft — and pushing the nation to get ready for a fight.” Much of Japan’s ramp up is being done in the name of North Korea while Prime Minister Kishida, who was “once considered a dove,” is now successfully implementing policies “without provoking nearly as much blowback as the more polarizing Abe.”
Tags: Aggression, Blowback, Challenge, China, Dangerous, Distant, Dove, Existential danger, Japan, Kishida, North Korea, Polarizing, Quiet revolution, Statecraft, Threat, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (May 5)
“With China now an economic and military powerhouse, Taiwan’s lack of preparedness is increasingly dangerous. Taiwan’s economy is two-thirds larger than Israel’s, but Taiwan spends almost two-thirds less as a percentage of gross domestic product on defense.” Especially in light of Ukraine’s invasion, this has to change and just an extra percent of military spending could prove decisive. “Through the force-multiplying miracle of modern weapons, we can help make Taiwan a porcupine and deter aggression that could have profoundly negative consequences for Taiwan, China and the world.”
Tags: Aggression, China, Dangerous, Economic, GDP, Invasion, Israel, Military spending, Porcupine, Powerhouse, Preparedness, Taiwan, Ukraine, Weapons
The Guardian (February 24)
“The west stood back and watched in Syria – it must not do the same in Ukraine…. It’s time for the US and its allies to show their steel in the face of Putin’s aggression. We have learned that nothing else will work.”
Tags: Aggression, Allies, Putin, Steel, Stood back, Syria, U.S., Ukraine, Watched, West
New York Times (September 7)
President “Obama has made headway in reassuring Asian nations that the United States intends to remain a stabilizing presence in the region,” but China’s aggressive moves in the South China Sea will increasingly dominate the future of the region and will present a complicated challenge for Mr. Obama’s successor to manage.”
Tags: Aggression, Asia, China, Headway, Obama, South China Sea, Stabilizing presence, Successor, U.S.
Washington Post (January 19)
The drop in oil prices is hitting Venezuela, Russia and Iran hard. These “three troublesome nations” rely on energy exports for 68-95% of their external revenue. Venezuela now “appears on the edge of a political chasm. Putin will try to fend off domestic upheaval with more foreign aggression. And Iran will make a fateful choice between forging a lifeline to the United States and Europe and consciously embracing isolation and harsh austerity.”
Tags: Aggression, Austerity, Chasm, Energy, Europe, Exports, Iran, Isolation, Oil prices, Putin, Russia, U.S., Venezuela
Wall Street Journal (July 23)
“Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine continues as usual.” Except for instilling outlandish hopes, the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 changed nothing. “The world’s media hang on any hint of conciliation from President Putin, as if he will suddenly turn into Vlad the Peacemaker. He won’t change until he concludes that the cost of his aggression is too high to sustain. So far the costs have been minuscule, and Mr. Putin is reacting with predictable contempt.”
Tags: Aggression, Costs, Flight 17, Malaysia Airlines, Media, Putin, Shoot-down, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, War
New York Times (June 23)
“Any reasonable American strategy for managing China’s increasingly aggressive actions in Asia depends heavily on cooperation with Japan and South Korea.” Alas, a new report on comfort women, calling the sincerity of Japan’s 1993 apology into question, has again cast a wrench in relations with neighboring South Korea. Prime Minister Abe’s “continued willingness to play to that political fringe is interfering with Japan’s ability to carry on its leading role in the region.”
Tags: Abe, Aggression, Apology, China, Comfort women, Cooperation, Japan, Political fringe, Sincerity, South Korea, Strategy, U.S.
USA Today (March 18)
“It would be foolish to think that Putin — basking in record popularity and surrounded by hard-line advisers — will do anything other than press the objective he has pursued for years: restoring the historic subjugation of Ukraine to Russia’s will.” The U.S. and “Europe, which has deeper trade ties to Russia” must not mislead themselves. They “must make clear how high the price of further aggression will be.”
Tags: Advisers, Aggression, Europe, Hard line, Objective, Popularity, Price, Putin, Russia, Trade, U.S., Ukraine
The Economist (April 6, 2013)
“Even by its own aggressive standards, North Korea’s actions over the past couple of weeks have been extraordinary.” The time has come “to get tougher with the nastiest regime on the planet.”
Tags: Aggression, Extraordinary, North Korea, Regime, Tough
