LA Times (June 1)
“For the U.S. and China, it’s not a trade war anymore — it’s something worse.” Though it’s still framed in terms of trade, “the conflict with China has widened beyond the original trade-based issues” and it “now threatens to become a far wider and more ominous confrontation,” potentially a clash of civilizations.
Reuters (April 25)
“Under Xi Jinping, Beijing has elevated its missile forces to a point where many rockets in the Chinese arsenal now rival or outperform those of the United States. This dramatic shift could render American carriers – the backbone of U.S. military supremacy – obsolete in a conflict with China.”
Tags: Arsenal, Beijing, China, Conflict, Military, Missile force, Obsolete, Outperform, Rival, Rockets, Supremacy, U.S., Xi Jinping
Time (November 12)
“President Donald Trump took aim at Saudi Arabia’s plan to cut oil production on Monday, injecting new tension into an already fraught alliance that has been clouded by U.S. concerns over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the ongoing conflict in Yemen.”
Tags: Alliance, Conflict, Journalist, Khashoggi, Killing, Oil production, President, Saudi Arabia, Tension, Trump, U.S., Yemen
The Economist (August 11)
“Today’s tax systems are not only marred by the bewildering complexity and loopholes that have always afflicted taxation; they are also outdated. That makes them less efficient, more unfair and more likely to conflict with a government’s priorities. The world needs to remake tax systems so that they are fit for the 21st century.”
Tags: Bewildering, Complexity, Conflict, Efficient, Loopholes, Outdated, Taxation, Unfair
Reuters (July 5)
“Investors watching the trade tit-for-tat between the United States and China may well have reason to fear the havoc a full blown conflict between the world’s two biggest economies could wreak on the global economy.” Furthermore, the collateral damage could be worse than that done to the principals. Due to global supply chains, countries like Taiwan, Hungary, the Czech Republic, South Korea, and Singapore could be equally if not more vulnerable” to fall out from the spat between the U.S. and China.
Tags: China, Collateral damage, Conflict, Czech Republic, Global economy, Hungary, Investors, Singapore, South Korea, Supply chains, Taiwan, Tit-for-tat, Trade, U.S., Vulnerable
The Economist (March 31)
“Just six words suffice to sum up President Donald Trump’s approach to trade …make threats, strike deals, declare victory.” But this will not create a victory. “Even if conflict is averted and China gives ground… the result will be a bad one for the world, and for America. That is partly because of Mr Trump’s character. If he thinks he has won one fight, he is likelier to start another. It is also because his policy is founded on wretched economics and dangerous politics.”
Tags: China, Conflict, Dangerous, Deals, Economics, Politics, Threats, Trade, Trump, Victory, Wretched
Washington Post (January 3)
“At this moment in time, Kim Jong Un is acting like a more mature person than the president of the United States…. It looks more and more dubious that Trump’s national security advisers know how to persuade him not to stumble his way into a conflict with North Korea. And Trump’s inability to coerce North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons will only cause him to make even more outlandish threats.”
Tags: Advisers, Conflict, Kim, Mature, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Outlandish, Stumble, Threats, U.S.
Chosun Ilbo (May 9)
Koreans elect their next president today, five months since the National Assembly impeached Park Geun-hye…. Korea had to endure unprecedented conflict and chaos over the past few months, and society continues to be divided along generational lines as many older people cling to certainties to which they have become accustomed. Many hope that things will now return to normal.”
Reuters (December 20)
“As soon as he’s inaugurated on Jan. 20, Trump will face a crucial decision: Will he continue the Pentagon’s support and training for the coalition of Syrian rebel groups which is leading a ground offensive to oust Islamic State?” While “the fledgling Trump administration wants to avoid becoming mired in Syria’s complicated war, and has signaled that it wants Russia to continue taking the lead… other powers might try to drag Washington deeper into the conflict, or use it to project strength, or to distract Trump from other goals, such as his insistence on dismantling the Iran nuclear deal.”
Tags: Coalition, Conflict, Decision, Iran, Islamic State, Nuclear deal, Pentagon, Rebel, Russia, Syria, Trump, War
Reuters (December 13)
“In time, Syria may be seen to define the early 21st century the way the Spanish Civil War did the 1930s – a perfect storm of all the worst trends in global politics and conflict. If it is, then Aleppo will be its Guernica, the Spanish town carpet bombed by Nazi aircraft in 1937 in a savage precursor to the horrors of the coming World War Two.
Tags: Aleppo, Carpet bombed, Conflict, Global politics, Guernica, Nazi, Perfect storm, Spanish Civil War, Syria, Worst trends, WWII
